How  Should  Chicago 


Governed  ? 


How  Should  Chicago 


-BE- 


Governed  ? 


COPYRIGHTED    1893    BY    B.    A.    ULRICH,    CHICAGO,    ILL. 


HOff  SHOULD  CHICAGO  BE  GOVERNED? 


Given  a  population  of  1,350,000,  composed  of  large  com- 
munities  of  Bohemians,  Swedes,  Norwegians,  Italians,  etc., 
together  with  a  large  element  of  Germans,  Irish,  and  French, 
interspersed  with  about  600,000  Americans,  inhabiting  an  area 
of  180  square  miles,  on  the  banks  of  a  magnificent  lake,  floating 
a  large  share  of  the  commerce  of  the  world;  with  railroads 
entering  it  from  every  direction  and  connecting  it  by  air  lines 
with  all  the  great  centers  of  trade;  containing  many  millions 
of  property,  real  and  personal,  and  the  largest  manufactories 
in  America:  The  question  is — How  shall  this  vast  metropolis 
be  governed?  Will  it  not  require  a  strong,  stable  municipal 
organization  to  hold  in  check  and  direct  this  great  heterogene- 
ous collection  of  people,  annually  increasing,  decade  after  de- 
cade, and  demanding  healthy  surroundings,  pure  air  and  water, 
light,  transportation,  comfortable  homes,  instruction  and 
proper  amusements.  How  are  these  objects  to  be  attained? 

The  only  practical  way  of  lifting  Chicago  out  of  the  abyss 
of  bad  city  government  into  which  she  has  fallen  is  by 

1st.  Obtaining  legislative  action  in  reference  to  calling  on 
the  people  to  vote  for  a 

CONSTITUTIONAL  CONTENTION. 

2nd.  When  the  people  have  voted  for  such  a  convention,  an 
election  must  be  called  to  choose  its  members. 

3rd.  The  convention  will  meet  and  draft  a  new  con- 
stitution. It  should  modify  the  present  clause  which  prevents 

3 


special  legislation  relative  to  city  charters,  as  Chicago  needs 
a  charter  which  will  not  suit  the  smaller  cities  in  the  state. 

4th.  By  incorporating  into  the  city  limits  all  that  portion  of 
Cook  County  which  Chicago  needs,  turning  the  remaining 
territory  over  to  the  adjoining  counties.  Fifty  of  the  best 
men  should  then  be  chosen,  including  the  first  legal  talent  in 
the  city,  to  draft  a  model  modern  city  charter  suitable  for  a  great 
metropolis,  covering  the  City  and-  County  of  Chicago,  under 
one  government.  The  succeeding  Legislature  should  then  be 
asked  to  grant  the  charter. 

To  accomplish  all  this  by  popular  vote  an  act  of  the  Legis- 
lature must  be  passed  at  the  present  session,  authorizing  the 
secretary  of  state  to  issue  ballots  with  the  clause,  "  For  a  con- 
stitutional convention"  incorporated  therein,  at  the  next  general 
election,  stating  that  those  who  do  not  wish  to  vote  for  the  pro- 
vision must  strike  out  the  clause,  otherwise  it  will  be  lost  sight 
of  in  the  general  shuffle,  as  it  was  at  the  last  election. 

* 

WHAT  THE  NEW  COUNCIL  SHOULD  DO  FOR  CHICAGO. 

Birmingham,  known  as  the  best  governed  city  in  the  world, 
under  the  able  administration  of  the  Honorable  Joseph 
Chamberlain,  gained  possession  of  the  gas  works  and  tht,  water 
works  by  purchase,  and  has  since  operated  them  at  great 
saving  to  the  consumers  and  profit  to  the  city.  The  price  of 
gas  wa8  reduced  to  two  shillings  and  five  pence  (about  60 
cents)  per  thousand  feet. 

An  improvement  scheme  was  also  inaugurated  by  Mr. 
Chamberlain  and  the  Town  Council  of  1875.  It  is  stated  by 
Julian  Ralph  to  be  one  of  the  most  stupendous,  courageous  and 
wise  acts  ever  performed  by  a  municipality. 

"  The  Council  purchased  a  large  district  covered  with  slums, 
where  vice,  crime,  poverty  and  drunkenness  flourished  and  con- 
verted it  into  the  handsomest  portion  of  the  city.  This  prop- 
erty was  leased  for  a  number  of  years  and  it  will  eventually 
add  enormously  to  the  wealth  of  the  city." 


The  market  rights  are  controlled  by  the  city  and  a  profit  of 
from  £8,000  to  £10,000  is  realized  annually. 

"  The  drainage  and  sewer  system  has  also  been  brought  to  a 
high  state  of  perfection.  The  Drainage  Board  manages  a 
farm  of  1,200  acres  in  the  Tame  Valley.  The  sewerage  is  con- 
veyed thither  through  an  eight-foot  conduit  and  is  passed 
through  the  land  by  an  extensive  system  of  filtration  by 
gravity,  after  which  the  effluent  reaches  the  Tame  river  nearly 
in  the  condition  of  perfectly  clear  water."  The  land  is  rendered 
very  productive  and  the  system  will  pay  sufficient  to  meet  all 
expenses. 

The  city  builds  the  street  railways  in  order  to  keep  control 
of  the  streets.  It  rents  them  to  chartered  companies  at  a  profit 
to  the  city  of  many  thousands  annually. 

Public  swimming  baths  in  buildings  and  open  swimming 
baths  are  built  for  the  benefit  of  all  classes,  both  male  and 
female.  Turkish  baths  cost  24  cents,  first-class  swimming 
bath  with  private  dressing  room  and  bathing  suit  ten  cents. 
In  the  second-class  department,  four  cents  is  charged.  All 
baths  are  set  apart  for  women  at  certain  hours.  Special  rates 
are  made  for  schools  and  clubs,  and  professional  bathing 
masters  are  furnished  when  required. 

The  Art  School,  Art  Gallery,  Museum  and  numerous  public 
libraries,  are  all  open  to  the  use  of  the  people  with  necessary 
regulations. 

The  people  in  Birmingham  have  all  these  advantages,  with 
clean  streets,  parks,  fountains,  schools,  etc.,  and  it  costs  the 
city  one-fourth  less  to  run  the  entire  corporation  than  is  annu- 
ally paid  by  one  hundred  cities  of  the  United  States,  estimat- 
ing the  expense  per  capita. 

Glasgow  will  show  a  record  of  good  and  economical  gov- 
ernment equaling  that  of  Birmingham.  The  city  owns  the 
gas  works  and  the  price  to  consumers  is  60  cents  per  1,000 
cubic  feet.  The  street  railways  are  all  owned  by  the  corpora- 
tion and  leased  to  private  companies,  giving  the  city  a  fine 
revenue. 


6 

Paris: — Although  the  gas  works  of  Paris  are  owned  by  pri- 
vate corporations,  $40,000,000  has  been  paid  into  the  City 
Treasury  from  this  source  of  revenue  alone  during  the  last  ten 
years.  The  company  must  pay  the  city  200,000  francs  a  year 
for  the  privilege  of  piping  the  streets,  2-10  of  a  franc  on  each 
cubic  meter  supplied,  and  half  the  net  profit,  after  paying  13£ 
per  cent  on  the  capital  stock  of  84,000,000  francs,  which  stock 
cannot  be  watered. 

All  transportation  companies  pay  heavy  taxes  to  the  city. 
In  the  last  ten  years  Paris  has  received  60,000,000  francs  from 
companies  and  individuals  using  streets  for  transportation 
purposes. 

As  against  New  York  City's  annual  expenses,  amounting  to 
$40,000,000  or  200,000,000  francs,  Paris  annually  collects  from 
these  and  other  sources  and  pays  out  an  average  of  250,000,000 
francs ; 

140,000,000  francs  are  collected  from  octroi  dues; 
40,000,000  francs  from  markets  and  use  of  streets; 
35,000,000  francs  from  direct  taxation; 
35,000,000  francs  from  national  treasury. 

But  the  latter  is  the  best  lighted  city  in  the  world,  its 
streets  are  cleaned,  it  has  a  superior  and  well  organized 
police  and  detective  force,  it  maintains  numerous  hospitals, 
a  public  market,  a  magnificent  opera  house,  and  elementary, 
industrial  and  high  schools  for  both  sexes.  Is  it  necessary  for 
me  to  tell  intelligent  citizens  why  Chicago  does  not  have 
a  similar  income  from  gas  companies,  markets,  street  rail- 
ways, etc.,  as  Paris  has?  Do  they  make  less  money  here? 
Recently  the  capital  stock  of  the  West  Side  railroad  street 
car  line  was  doubled,  and  the  north  side  increased  its  capi- 
tal stock  $1,000,000,  and  the  south  side  $2,000,000.  The 
stockholders  pocket  what  in  Paris  goes  to  the  City,  and  the 
people  in  Chicago,  thanks  to  its  Aldermen  who  work  for 
patriotic  motives  and  $150  per  annum,  get  but  a  small  pro- 
portion. 


The  gross  earnings  of  the  Chicago  Gas  Trust  for  1892  amount 
to  about  $4,000,000,  leaving  about  $2,500,000  to  distribute 
among  stockholders  controlling  the  $44,000,000  watered  stock, 
after  paying  all  expenses.  The  trust  is  getting  6  per  cent,  on 
$35,000,000,  which  originally  cost  nothing,  allowing  $9,000,000 
for  cost  of  plant,  etc.  This  surplus  profit  should  be  divided 
with  Chicago,  or  else  she  should  manufacture  her  own  gas. 

The  gross  earnings  of  the  Chicago  City  railway  for  1892, 
amount  to  $4,400,944;  net  earnings,  $1,501,500.  The  net  per 
cent,  on  capital  invested  is  19.01  per  cent,  on  $1,331,137,  of 
which  Chicago  gets  practically  nothing,  but  pays  policemen  to 
watch  the  crossings,  etc.  All  these  companies  pay  about 
$50,000  for  license  on  running  cars.  $880,000  is  asked  for  to 
<jlean  the  streets.  This  should  be  collected  of  the  street  car  and 
gas  companies  who  use  the  streets.  In  any  well  regulated  city 
they  would  be  compelled  to  contribute  largely  to  city  revenue. 

The  assessors  tax  private  individuals  on  their  realty  1-5  its 
actual  value,  while  they  only  tax  corporations  1-35  of  the  value 
of  their  holdings.  All  these  gentlemen,  like  Boss  Tweed,  look 
wise  and  say,  "  What  are  you  going  to  do  about  it? " 

WHAT    MAYOR     WASHBURNE     SATS   ABOUT   TAXES    IN    CHICAGO. 

A     LIMIT   TO   INCOME   BY  TAX. 

"  It  is  prohibited  from  further  increasing  its  indebtedness  by 
legislative  enactments,  as  the  limit  of  its  bonded  indebtedness 
has  been  reached.  One  reason  for  this  shortage  of  funds  is 
that  those  who  own  and  control  tho  wealth  of  this  commun- 
ity do  not  pay  their  just  proportion  of  the  debts  of  the  com- 
monwealth. The  total  valuations  of  the  real  estate  owned  by 
the  great  railroad  corporations  centering  here  is  conservatively 
valued  at  not  less  than  $350,000,000.  The  official  valuation 
places  it  for  the  year  1892  in  the  sum  of  $12,440,479.  The 
total  valuation  of  real  estate  in  the  city,  outside  of  railroads,  is 
conservatively  estimated  at  $1,906,146,360.  The  assessed  valu- 
ation of  this  same  real  estate  for  the  year  1892  is  $190,614,- 
636.  It  is  impossible  to  approximate  the  value  of  personal 


8 

property  owned  in  this  city,  but  its  estimated  value  for  the 
year  1892  was  $36,395,680.  Our  supreme  court  has  decided 
that  all  property  shall  be  assessed  at  33^  per  cent,  of  its  actual 
value,  but  an  inspection  of  official  books  shows  the  figures  I 
have  given  you,  and  they  show  that  real  estate  of  private 
holders  is  assessed  at  one-fifth  to  one-fourth  its  actual  value, 
and  corporation  holdings  are  assessed  as  low  as  one- thirty- 
ninth  the  actual  value.  It  can  readily  be  seen  that  if  the 
assessed  valuation  of  large  corporations,  such  as  all  railroad 
companies,  gas  companies,  etc.,  was  increased  in  proportion  to 
its  growing  and  actual  value  there  would  be  fewer  complaints 
on  the  part  of  the  public  by  reason  of  unkept  streets  and 
alleys.  Add  to  this,  millions  of  dollars'  worth  of  improved 
real  estate  owned  by  church  corporations,  from  which  said 
corporations  derive  large  revenues  and  which  properties  are 
now  exempt  from  taxation,  and  you  will  see  that  a  more  equit- 
able adjustment  of  these  assessments  would  relieve  us  immed- 
iately from  present  financial  straits,  Our  system  of  tax  assess- 
ment and  collection  is  entirely  wrong." 

The  Hon.  Seth  Low,  states  in  the  September  Century,  that  "at 
the  present  time  in  the  two  cities  (New  York  and  Brooklyn)  there 
is  a  board  of  estimate,  consisting  of  three  or  four  of  the  principal 
officers  of  the  city.  This  board  annually  prepares  a  budget 
for  the  ensuing  year.  The  meetings  of  the  board  of  estimate 
are  public,  and  they  have  authority  to  summon  before  them 
for  explanation  of  any  estimate,  all  city  officers.  This  budget, 
when  prepared,  cannot  be  increased  by  the  common  council. 
The  board  of  estimate  in  Brooklyn  consists  of  the  mayor,  the 
comptroller,  and  the  city  auditor,  with  two  others  representing 
the  county,  all  of  whom  are  elected  officials." 

POLITICAL   INFLUENCE   OOTTNTS    TOO   MUCH. 

The  tenure  of  office  for  assessor  depends  upon  his  popular- 
ity with  the  individuals  and  corporations  of  the  district  to 
which  he  has  been  elected  and  that  popularity  is  gained 


9 

through  a  low  assessment  and  accommodations  which  should 
never  be  permitted.  The  total  value  of  real  estate  in  this  city 
to-day  from  the  assessor's  books  is  less  than  it  was  twenty  years 
ago.  The  growing  interests  of  this  city  and  the  million  and 
a  half  of  its  inhabitants  is  based  upon  a  tax  levy  which  was 
originally  intended  for  a  city  containing,  as  this  did  in  1873, 
less  than  a  half  a  million  of  people. 

Americans  may  be  expected  to  have  more  than  ordinary  for- 
bearance, but  forbearance  ceases  to  be  a  virtue,  (unless  one 
holds  the  stock)  under  these  circumstances.  If  citizens  of 
Chicago  are  blind  and  servile  enough  to  endure  such  outrages 
when  they  are  independent  men,  with  the  ballot  in  their  hands, 
they  need  blame  no  one  but  themselves.  Those  who  will  not 
help  themselves  cannot  expect  either  God  or  man  to  help  them. 


CITY    FRANCHISES. 


Since  the  inauguration  of  the  present  city  government  in 
April,  1891,  the  following  valuable  franchises  have  been 
granted  to  corporations.  The  amount  of  pecuniary  advantage  to 
the  city  is  noted.  The  list  does  not  include  ordinances  for  the  ex- 
tension of  city  railway  lines  and  changes  of  motive  power,  nor 
for  railway  platforms  and  stations,  nor  for  bridges  over  alleys, 
nor  roadways  and  tunnels  connecting  buildings.  There  is  omit- 
ted all  permits  for  private  switch  tracks  and  for  additional  tracks 
for  rail  ways;  also,  all  grants  or  concessions  to  the  World's 
Fair  Corporation. 

Economic  Fuel  Gas  Company:  Conceding  rights  to  con- 
struct works  for  gas,  right-of-way  along,  upon  and  under  all 
the  avenues,  streets,  alleys  and  public  places.  Limits  charges. 
Gas  company  to  pay  city  3  per  cent  of  gross  receipts  from 
illuminating  and  5  per  cent  from  natural  gas.  Company  to 
furnish  gas  to  city  at  $17.50  per  lamp.  Passed  over  mayor's  veto. 

Waukesha  Hygeia  Mineral  Spring  Company:  To  convey 
mineral  or  spring  water  along  and  under  certain  streets,  ave- 
nues and  alleys.  Pays  Chicago  nothing  and  decreases  revenue 
from  water  works  of  city. 


10 

Chicago  Power,  Supply  and  Smoke  Abating  Company: 
Manufacturers  of  compressed  air  motors  and  fittings  and  pneu- 
matic appliances;  right-of-way  upon  and  under  all  the  avenues, 
streets,  alleys  and  public  places  for  pipes,  tubing,  etc.,  neces- 
sary for  distribution,  and  for  heating  and  sanitary  ventilation, 
pays  to  city  5  per  cent,  of  gross  receipts.  This  franchise  is 
worth  many  millions  to  originators  and  stockholders. 

Calumet  Electric  Street  Railway:  Construct  and  operate 
street  railway  along  certain  streets.  $50  per  car  license  fee. 

Chicago  &  Evanston  Electric  Railway:  Similar  privileges 
and  compensation. 

Chicago  &  Jefferson  Urban  Transit:  Similar  privileges; 
$7,143  per  mile  and  $50  license  fee. 

Chicago  Elevated  Terminal:  A  very  important  and  com- 
prehensive franchise.  No  pecuniary  benefit  to  the  City. 

Blue  Island  Railroad:  Construct  railroad  on  121st  Street 
from  Michigan  avenue  west. 

South  West  Chicago  Rapid  Transit:  Along  Sixty-third 
between  Ashland  and  Central  Park  avenue;  $50  license  fee. 

South  Chicago  City  Railway:  Along  certain  specified 
streets.  $50  license  fee. 

West  &  South  Town  Horse  Railway:  Similar  privileges; 
$500  per  mile  and  $50  per  mile  license  per  annum. 

Grand  Crossing  &  Windsor  Park  Railway:  Similar  privi- 
leges; $50  license  fee. 

Metropolitan  West  Side  Elevated:  Certain  specified  streets; 
$50  license  fee;  very  important  franchise. 


11 

We  can  do  no  better  than  give 

QUOTATIONS    FROM    THE    CHICAGO    TRIBUNE'S 

article  on  this  subject,  of  April  4,  1892. 

HOW    PUBLIC    PROPERTY    IS    USED    FOR    PRIVATE    GAIN. 
HOW    ORDINANCES     ARE    SECURED. 

•What  proportion  of  the  profit  made  by  individuals  from 
privileges  granted  or  taken,  on,  under,  or  above  the  streets  of 
Chicago  does  the  public  get? 

It  is  a  broad  question  and  cannot  be  definitely  answered. 
No  one  knows  how  much  profit  is  made  from  the  privileges, 
but  every  one  does  know  that  the  city  does  not  begin  to  get 
the  proportion  that  it  should ;  that  it  does  not  get  what  an  in- 
dividua1  or  a  private  corporation  would  if  either  stood  in  the 
place  of  the  city.  In  many  instances  the  city  does  not  get  one 
cent  for  the  privileges  that  it  has  granted;  the  Aldermen  may 
have  received  something  at  the  time  they  gave  the  rights,  but 
not  the  city. 

The  streets  being  the  property  of  the  city  should  of  course 
be  utilized  for  the  greatest  good  to  the  greatest  number,  in- 
stead of  which  they  seem  to  be  utilized  for  the  greatest  good 
to  the  favored  few.  They  are  torn  up,  built  over,  tunneled 
under,  and  in  many  instancss  wholly  appropriated.  If  the 
rights  given  to  a  few,  proportionately  free,  were  given  to  all 
free,  there  would  be  no  room  left  on  or  under  them,  and  nine- 
tenths  of  the  population  would  be  crowded  out  before  they 
had  a  chance  to  make  use  of  the  rights  granted. 

This  can  be  asserted  on  the  strength  of  the  investigations 
made  by  the  Tribune,  although  it  was  impossible  to  learn  ex- 
actly how  many  streets  are  occupied  for  private  purposes. 
The  city  does  not  and  cannot  know  without  first  making  a 
long  and  searching  investigation.  It  would  take  months  for 
it  to  find  out  what  it  has  given  away,  and  still  longer  to  find 
whether  the  gifts  were  in  perpetuity  or  only  for  a  term  of 
years. 


12 

No  complete  record  is  kept  in  the  City  Hall,  outside  of  the 
Council  Records,  of  the  privileges  given. 

In  view  of  these  circumstances  it  is  as  impossible  for  the 
city  to  know  what  the  proportionate  return  is  as  it  is  for  an 
individual  citizen.  Even  an  Alderman  would  have  to  search 
the  Council  records  for  a  week  or  two  to  find  out  if  one  of  his 
constituents  was  using  a  street  without  authority.  Perhaps  that 
is  the  reason  so  many  have  been  able  to  go  ahead  without  being 
"  touched  "  or  disturbed  after  their  ordinances  have  expired. 

ANNUAL  RETURN  TO  THE  CITY. 

The  maps  and  plats  at  the  City  Hall  are  more  nearly  com- 
plete for  the  business  district  than  any  other,  and  a  study  of 
them  is  calculated  to  surprise  one. 

Something  like  25  per  cent,  of  the  streets  between  Division 
street,  Twenty-second  street,  Halsted  street,  and  the  lake,  are 
occupied  wholly  or  in  part  by  railroad  companies. 

This  is  admitted  at  the  Department  of  Public  Works,  but  it 
is  difficult  to  discover  just  what  the  return  is.  In  estimating 
it,  franchises  that  extend  to  the  city  limits  have  to  be  taken  in- 
to consideration. 

As  near  as  could  be  learned  at  the  City  Hall  the  annual  income 
to  the  city  from  all  these  privileges  combined  does  not  exceed 
$250,000,  and  of  this  the  gas  companies  pay,  or  did  pay  last 
year,  more  than  half.  Most  of  the  privileges  given  have  been 
given  free  or  for  a  consideration,  at  the  time  of  the  grant,  that 
ended  the  whole  matter  as  far  as  any  return  to  the  city  is  con- 
cerned. So  the  income  can  hardly  be  increased  without  the 
granting  of  further  privileges,  and  the  diagrams  accompanying 
this  would  seem  to  indicate  that  there  were  not  many  left  to 
grant. 

Two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  a  year  for  one-fourth 
of  the  street  space  in  the  heart  of  the  city! 

Following  is  a  list  of  some  of  the  roads  that  have  been 
granted  privileges  more  or  less  valuable,  for  which  they  pay 
or  have  paid  sums  more  or  less  inadequate  to  the  advantage 


13 


they  have  gained.  Some  are  trunk  lines,  some  are 
branches  or  offshoots  of  trunk  lines,  and  some  have  been 
merged  into  other  lines,  bat  all  have  been  granted  valu- 
able privileges.  While  the  privileges  granted  have  been 
greater  than  those  given  to  firms  in  the  way  of  switch  tracks, 
and  the  consequent  inconvenience  to  the  public  is  greater,  the 
railroads  have  done  more  for  the  city  and  have  made  some  re- 
turn, although  proportionately  small,  if  one  considers  what 
they  would  have  given  for  the  streets  if  they  had  been  forced 
to  make  reasonable  terms 

RAILROADS    GIVEN  RIGHTS. 


Atchinson,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe. 
Baltimore  &  Ohio. 
Chicago  &  Alton. 
Chicago  &  Eastern  Illinois. 
Chicago  &  Evanston. 
Chicago  &  Great  Eastern. 
Chicago  &  Great  Western. 
Chicago  &  Indiana  State  Line. 
Chicago  &  Lake  Superior. 
Chicago  &  Milwaukee. 
Chicago  &  Mississippi. 
Chicago  &  Northwestern. 
Chicago  &  Pacific. 
Chicago  &  Southern. 
Chicago  &  Western  Indiana. 
Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy. 
Chicago,  Madison  &  Northern. 
Chicago,  Millington  &  Western. 

Following  is  a  list  of  some  of  the  companies  that  have  been 
given  privileges  in  the  streets  of  Chicago: 


Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul. 

Chicago,  Rock  Island  &  Pacific. 

Chicago,  St.  Charles  &  Mississippi 
Air-Line. 

Chicago,  St.  Louis  &  Pacific. 

Chicago,  St.  Paul  &  Fond  du  Lac. 

Chicago,  Columbus  &  Indiana  Cen- 
tral. 

Galena  &  Chicago  Union. 

Illinois  &  Wisconsin. 

Illinois  Central. 

Joliet  &  Chicago. 

Lake  Shore  &  Michigan  Southern. 

Michigan  Southern  &  Northern 
Indiana. 

Pittsburgh,  Fort  Wayne  &  Chicago 

Northern  Pacific. 


Chicago  &  Englewood  Horse  and 
Dummy  Company. 

Chicago  &  South  Side  Rapid  Tran- 
sit Company. 

Chicago  City  Railroad  Company. 

Chicago  Passenger  Railway  Com- 
pany. » 

Chicago  West  Division  Railway 
Company. 


Lake  Street  " L"  Road  Company. 
Metropolitan  City  Railway    Com- 
pany- 
West  Chicago  Street  Railway  Com- 
pany. 

West  Chicago  Rapid  Transit  Com- 
pany- 
North  Chicago  City  Railway  com- 
pany. 


14 

Following  is  a  list  of  some  of  the  big  corporations  that  have 
been  granted  rights  under  the  streets: 

Chicago  Gaslight  &  Coke  Company.  Sun  Electric  Light  Company. 

Consumers'  Gas  Company.  Western  Edison  Light  Company. 

Co-operative  Electric  Light  Com-  Chicago  Sectional  Electric  Under- 
pany.  ground  Company. 

Equitable  Gaslight  &  Fuel  Com-  Consumer's  Electric  Light  Com- 
pany, pany. 

People's  Gaslight  &  Coke  Com  Chicago  Power  Supply  &  Smoke 
pany.  Abating  Company. 

Other  corporations  that  have  been  granted  rights  under  the 
streets,  and  mor3  above  in  most  cases,  are  the  telegraph  and 
telephone  companies.  Following  is  a  list  of  some  of  them. 
They  have  been  granted  rights  to  occupy  a  good  deal  of  space 
belonging  to  the  city,  and  the  return  no  greater  than  in  most 
of  the  other  cases : 

Atlantic  &  Pacific  Telegraph  Com-  Pacific  &  Atlantic  Telegraph  Com- 
pany, pany. 

Baltimore  &  Ohio  Telegraph  Com-  Chicago  &  Western  Indiana  Com- 
pany, pany. 

Bell  Telephone  Company.  Chicago  City  Telephone  Company- 

Cushman  Telephone  Company.  Chicago  Telephone  Company. 

Mutual  Union  Telegraph  Company.      United  States  Telegraph  Company. 

From  a  real  estate  point  of  view  that  is  almost  like  giving 
it  away.  But  it  is  not  $250,000  for  that  alone;  it  is  $250,000 
a  year  for  practically  all  the  privileges  on,  under,  and  above 
all  the  streets  within  the  city  limits. 

A  rough  estimate  of  the  rights  that  have  been  granted  on 
and  under  the  streets  of  Chicago  shows  the  following: 

Private  firms-(switch  track) 60 

Railroads 1. 35 

Street  and  "L"  roads 10 

Electric  light  and  gas  companies 8 

Telephone  and  telegraph  companies 12 

Miscellaneous 50 

Total 175 

This  does  not  mean  175  streets;  it  means  more  occupied 
wholly  or  in  part  by  individuals  or  colorations,  and  the 
return  to  the  city  is  comparatively  nothing.  Some  pay,  or 


15 

have  paid,  something  for  the  privileges  they  enjoy,  but  more 
have  paid  nothing.  Some  have  perpetual  rights  (strange  as  it 
may  seem),  and  some  only  for  a  term  of  years.  Some  only  cross 
the  streets,  some  occupy  them  to  the  exclusion  of  all  others, 
and  some  occupy  wholly  or  in  part  a  dozen  or  more  streets. 

PAY   NOTHING    TO    THE   CITY. 

The  first  item  on  the  list  represents  no  return  to  the  city. 
In  other  words,  something  like  sixty  individuals,  firms,  or  cor- 
porporations  have,  by  ordinance,  been  granted  the  right  to  lay 
tracks  on  or  across  one  or  more  streets  in  Chicago  without  pay- 
ing a  cent  for  the  privilege.  The  strongest  stipulation  made 
when  any  of  the  ordinances  was  passed  was  that  the  city 
should  pay  nothing  for  the  repair  of  or  damages  on  the  street 
or  that  portion  of  it  occupied  for  private  purposes. 

If  the  streets  are  worth  something  to  the  companies  are  they 
not  to  the  city  ? 

"Would  not  the  companies  expect  to  pay  something  for  the 
same  privileges  on  land  that  did  not  belong  to  the  city,  and 
would  they  not  be  willing  to  do  so  ? 

"They  certainly  would,"  said  a  real  estate  man  who  was 
asked  about  the  matter.  "The  strongest  plea  that  is  made  for 
the  occupation  of  the  streets  is  where  the  company  owns  the 
property  on  both  sides  for  some  distance,  but  if  a  company 
owned  the  property  on  both  sides  and  in  the  rear  of  a  lot 
owned  by  you,  you  wouldn't  give  it  privileges  on  or  under  that 
lot  without  some  compensation,  even  if  it  would  be  a  good 
thing  for  the  neighborhood.  If  you  did  you  would  suffer  for 
some  one  else's  gain.  When  the  city  suffers  the  public  suffers." 

The  following  shows  some  of  the  concerns  that  have  been 
granted  privileges  in  the  way  of  switch-tracks  on  public 
property.  In  a  few  cases  the  names  of  the  streets  to  be  crossed 
(there  being  several)  were  not  given  in  the  ordinance,  in  others 
the  date  of  the  grant  is  not  given,  and  in  still  other  there  is  no 
limit  of  time.  Most  of  the  latter  are  subject  to  repeal,  how- 
ever, although  some  appear  to  be  grants  in  perpetuity : 


Street 

Date  of 
grant. 

1 

liarzovsky  &  Sledzianowski 

Alley  

July   9,    '88 

10 

Braad  &  Co. 

Snow    ..  

?,0 

Ferdinand  E.  Canda 

Stewart....... 

10 

Beigler,  Eberthonser  &  Findesien 

Cherry...... 

April  7,  '88 

10 

South  Branch  Canal  Co 

South  

Jan.  5  

Consolidated  Ice  Machine  Co  

(  Stewart     J 

July  2     '88 

20 

Daniel  Corkery  

j  Lumber    J  "" 
Stewart.  ....  

10 

Cooper  &  Nocken.  . 

Alley  

Oct    8,   '88 

10 

Dowdle  &  McWhirter. 

May  13,  '89 

J.  G.  Dwen  .. 

Twentieth. 

Feb.    1,  '86 

9,0 

J.  8.  Ford,  Johnson  &  Co...  .     

Indiana  av  

June  17,  '89 

10 

Zail,  Burmiiler  &  Unzieker  

Hawthorne  av.. 

May  20,  '89 

10 

James  B.  Galloway  

Pleetwood  

10 

Garden  City  Sand  Co  

(  Rockwell      ) 

May  10,  '85 

10 

M.Gottfried.        

(  Lexington     j 
Alexander  

Nov.  20,  '76 

P.  C.  Hanford  Oil  Co 

Sixteenth.. 

10 

Harpold  &  Sayers. 

Alley  ... 

Feb.  20,  '88 

10 

Edwin  S.  Hartwell  

Chester  

May  28,  '88 

10 

Ernest  Heldheimer  

Lumber.  

Mar.  10,  '80 

10 

G.  W.  Hinckley  

Twenty-second 

Feb.   4,  'b7 

Knickerbocker  Ice  Co  . 

Stewart  . 

Oct.  17,  '87 

10 

McCormick  Harvester  Machine  Co  

(  Western  av   ) 

April  30,  88 

10 

Mahla  &  Chappell  

(  Tw'ty-sixth  ) 
Stewart  . 

Dec.  16,  '87 

10 

Morier  &  Kindley.  

16th  and  17th 

April  5,  '86 

10 

L.  Newberry  &  Co  

North  Market 

Fel).  10,  '62 

O'Conor  &  Leeson  _  

Rockwell  

Mar.  18,  '89 

10 

H.  Paepeke  &  Co  

George  .. 

Oct.   8,   '88 

10 

Paige  Iron  Works  

Ontario  

Sept  24,  '88 

10 

Elijah  Peacock  

Stewart  av. 

Jan.  14,  '89 

10 

People's  Gaa  Light  &  Coke  Co  

Elston  av  

Mar.  12,  '86 

R.  Rassmussen  

Bloomingdale 

Oct.  24,  '87 

10 

D.  Reed  

Grove  

July  15,  '86 

10 

Rend&  Healy  

Hoyne  av  

Nov   19,  '88 

10 

Steele  Taylor  

Sept.  7,  '63 

William  F.  Tucker  

Egan  av.  

Sept.  23,  '72 

Tudor  Buggy  Co  ... 

Stewart  av  

10 

Union  Iron  &  Steel  Co. 

{Ashlandav.  ) 
33d....          (• 

Jan.  21,  '84 

flO 

Iron  ) 

Union  Stock  Yards  &  Transit  Co  

Ogdon  av  

Mar.  19,  '77 

Albert  H.  Veeder.  

Hawthorne  av. 

Jan.   14,  89 

30 

Ward  &  Gaennslen  

j  Archer  av..  ) 

Jan.  26,  '85 

1  Waver  st  ..  J 
f  Ullman  1 
|  Fox.               | 

John  A.  Yale  

•{  Waterville.    V 

April  2,  '80 

|  32d  1 

[  Benson  \ 

17 


NEITHER    MAPS  NOR  PLATS  IN  THE  POSSESSION  OF  THE  CITY. 

There  is  not  in  any  department  of  the  City  Hall  any  sets  of 
maps  or  plats  to  show  whether  railroad  tracks  and  switches 
have  been  authorized  by  ordinance,  and  when  any  dispute  or 
question  arises  the  only  method  of  determining  if  the  track  in 
question  was  put  down  after  due  authority  is  to  look  up  the 
city  ordinances  on  the  particular  track  in  question. 

This  but  goes  to  show  the  truth  of  the  statement  often  made 
that  any  mercantile  or  other  business-house  run  with  as  little 
system  as  the  municipal  government  of  Chicago  wonld  be 
bankrupt  in  three  months. 


IT  WAS  PRACTICALLY  A  GIFT 

TKRMS    ON    WHICH    THE    CITY    GAVE    UP    THE    WASHINGTON  STREET 
TUNNEL — OTHER     FRANCHISES. 

The  Washington  tunnel  is  wholly  occupied  by  the  West 
Chicago  Street  railway  to  the  exclusion  of  the  citizens  whose 
money,  in  the  way  of  taxes,  went  to  pay  for  its  construction. 
True,  if  a  man  cares  to  take  his  life  in  his  hands,  he  may 
drive  through,  or  walk  through  for  that  matter,  but  any  one 
who  would  do  so  would  be  taking  more  foolhardy  risks  than 
the  man  who  attempts  to  walk  to  the  crib  on  blocks  of  ice. 
When  Carter  Harrison  was  Mayor  the  use  of  the  tunnel  was 
given  the  Chicago  Passenger  railway,  which  in  turn  disposed 
of  it  to  Mr.  Yerkes'  company.  Under  the  provisions  of  the 
ordinance,  the  street  car  company  was  to  remove  the  Madison 
street  bridge  to  Washington  street,  which  it  did,  and  now 
enjoys  the  tunnel  usufruct  without  the  payment  of  one  cent  of 
revenue.  The  same  company  is  now  constructing  a  tunnel  on 
Van  Buren  street  at  a  cost  running  well  up  towards  a  million 
2 


18 

dollars,  a  sum  that  would  have  had  to  be  expended  in  a  tunnel 
for  the  West  Madison  street  and  Milwaukee  avenue  lines  had 
it  not  been  for  an  obliging  City  Council. 

The  North  Chicago  Street  railway  company  has  the  use  of 
the  LaSalle  Street  tunnel  under  authority  of  an  ordinance 
passed  July  19,  1886,  and  amended  Oct.  5,  1888.  This  gives 
the  railway  company  the  use  of  the  tunnel  for  twenty  years 
from  the  time  of  the  passage  of  the  ordinance,  at  a  yearly 
rental  of  $25,000.  There  were  two  or  three  strings  to  the 
$25,000  annual  tax  however,  and  as  has  been  customary  with 
this  corporation  when  any  strings  were  in  sight,  they  have 
been  pulled,  and  the  result  is  the  city  receives  no  revenue  from 
the  tunnel.  The  ordinance  contained  the  stipulation  that  if 
the  North  Chicago  Street  railway  company  should  put  up  a 
bridge  similar  to  the  Rush  street  bridge,  at  Clark  street,  the 
rent  for  the  tunnel  should  be  reduced  to  $10,000  a  year.  Then 
by  constructing  a  bridge  at  Wells  street,  payment  for  the  use 
of  the  tunnel  was  to  cease  entirely.  Both  bridges  were  built 
and  the  street  car  company  now  pays  nothing  for  the  tunnel. 

Under  the  terms  of  the  contract  with  the  city,  the  company 
must  keep  the  tunnel  in  thorough  repair,  both  the  roadway 
and  the  footway  well  lighted  and  the  walls  painted.  Every 
person  who  lives  on  the  North  Side  and  who  has  occasion  to 
go  through  it  knows  how  well  this  part  of  the  agreement  is 
maintained. 

The  various  street  car  companies  are  taxed  on  the  number 
of  cars  used  in  the  carrying  of  passengers,  but  again  the  city 
gets  the  bag  to  hold.  The  Chicago  City  railway  company,  the 
North  Chicago  Street  railway  company  and  the  West  Chicago 
Street  railway  company  are  requested  by  ordinance  to  pay  a 
tax  of  $50  a  year  on  the  cars  in  service.  Thirteen  round  trips 
constitute  a  day's  service,  and  those  cars  put  on  for  the  morning 
and  evening  rush  must  run  six  and  one-half  days  to  constitute 
a  day,  or  six  years  and-a-half  before  they  bring  in  a  revenue  of 
$50  to  the  city.  A  car  purchased  now  and  put  in  service  on 
the  lines  in  question,  for  the  rush  hours,  would  bring  into  the 


19 

City  Treasury  the  full  $50  in  the  neighborhood  of  Oct.  4, 1898. 
Of  course  summer  cars  don't  pay  tax  in  winter  or  winter  cars 
in  summer,  so  the  time  when  the  payment  of  the  $50  is  com- 
pleted might  be  extended  to  April,  1905,  this  counting  on 
honest  and  truthful  returns  from  car  officials  whose  memories 
have  been  known  to  fail  in  times  gone  by.  During  the  year 
1891  there  was  paid  into  the  city  treasury  by  the  three  com- 
panies the  modest  sum  of  $45,848.55. 

There  is  a  more  advantageous  clause  in  the  Alley  "L"  and 
the  Lake  Street  "L"  roads  regarding  the  payment  of  tax  on 
cars  in  service.  Instead  of  a  clause  providing  for  thirteen 
round  trips  constituting  a  day's  run  the  ordinances  in  each 
case  provide  for  a  payment  of  $50  a  year  for  every  car  in 
service. 

"When  the  recent  omnibus  ordinances  for  the  "West  and 
South  Sides  were  introduced,"  said  Controller  May,  in  dis- 
cussing this  feature  of  municipal  revenue,  "I  tried  to  have  the 
tax  made  so  much  for  each  car  in  service,  as  is  the  case  with 
the  two  elevated  roads,  but  my  efforts  were  without  success. 
The  thirteen-trip-a-day  clause  is  of  great  benefit  to  the  street 
car  companies."  There  are  certain  other  minor  obligations 
imposed  upon  the  street  car  lines.  The  North  Chicago  street 
railway  company  pays  $250  a  year  towards  the  maintenance  of 
the  North  avenue  bridge  and  the  same  amount  towards  the 
Division  street  bridge. 

The  Chicago  Passenger  railway  company  pays  $1,000 
towards  maintaining  the  Adams  street  bridge. 

The  West  Chicago  street  railway  company  pays  $1,000  a 
year  for  repairs  on  the  Lake  street  bridge  for  its  use  of  the 
same. 

The  Chicago  Telephone  company  was  given  permission  by 
the  City  Council  to  put  electrical  conduits  under  the  streets 
and  alleys  of  the  city.  For  this  and  the  right  to  string  up 
wires  on  poles  the  company  paid  into  the  City  Treasury  during 
1891  the  sum  of  $26,255,  it  being  3  per  cent,  on  the  gross 
receipts. 


20 

The  gas  companies  comprising  the  gas  trust  pay  into  the 
treasury  of  the  city  a  small  part  of  their  vast  earnings  for  the 
right  to  tear  up  each  and  every  street  and  alley  in  the  City  of 
Chicago  and  to  lay  as  many  and  big  gas  mains,  pipes,  and 
feeders  as  the  companies  may  deem  necessary.  The  com- 
panies are  required  by  ordinance  to  pay  3^  per  cent,  of  gross 
income  from  the  sale  of  illuminating  and  fuel  gas.  The  re- 
turns for  the  year  1891  are  interesting  in  two  ways,  first,  that 
the  gross  income  of  the  several  companies,  as  figured  out  by 
the  officers,  is  given  with  the  amount  paid  by  each  company 
into  the  City  Treasury.  The  table  is  as  follows: 

Gross  3%  per  cent, 

receipts.  paid   to   city_ 

Chicago  Gas  Light  &  Coke  Co ...  .$1,834,534,13  $64,208.69 

Consumers'  Gas  Co 572,283.81  20,029.93 

Equitable  Gas  Co 148,370.81  5,192.98 

People's  Gaslight  &  Coke  Co. ...    1,335,823.77  46,753.83 

Lake  Gas  Co 159,111.27  5,568.89 

Hyde  Park  Gas  Co 181,739.33  6,360.88 

Suburban  Gas  Co 135,105.65  4,728.70 


Total. $4,366,968.77      $152,843.90 

Of  the  $152,843.90  due  the  city  under  this  contract,  $131,300 
has  been  paid,  leaving  a  balance  yet  due  of  $21,543.90.  The 
gas  trust  will  no  doubt  make  good  its  reputation  and  pay  this 
sum  the  first  bright,  sunshiny  day  that  Mr.  Billings  has  no- 
thing else  to  do. 

The  above  statements  would  have  been  difficult  to  obtain 
had  not  the  Tribune  given  them  to  the  people.  It  is  good 
authority  for  their  correctness.  Chicago  papers,  are,  as  a  rule, 
on  the  side  of  reform.  They  are  willing  to  do  what  they  deem 
best.  It  is  not  expected  all  editors  will  agree  on  the  method 
to  be  pursued 


21 


CORPORATIONS    MUST    PAY    FOR    CLEANING   STREETS. 

In  consideration  of  the  enormous  gifts  the  city  has  lavished 
upon  her  favorite  sons  controlling  these  great  corporations, 
now  owning  nearly  all  the  streets  and  alleys  within  the  corpor- 
ate limits,  the  people,  the  forgotten  million,  should  now  elect 
a  Board  of  Aldermen  and  a  Mayor  who  would  immediately 
take  measures  to  impose  a  tax  upon  these  rich  beneficiaries  of 
the  Council  and  compel  them  hereafter  to  maintain,  free  of  all 
expense  to  the  citizens,  the  streets  and  alleys,  constructing 
repairing  and  cleaning  them  as  long  as  outstanding  franchises 
last.  If  these  clever  gentlemen  had  originally  paid  what  they 
should,  Chicago  could  now  do  all  this  from  the  revenue 
obtained.  Eventually  these  corporations  should  be  forced  to 
excavate  the  streets  and  alleys  in  center  of  city,  and  bridge 
them  with  iron  girders  from  curb  to  curb,  and  cover  them  so 
heavy  teams  can  pass  over  them,  leaving  a  free  passage  under- 
neath so  that  the  surface  need  not  be  disturbed.  In  the 
crowded  portions  of  the  city,  the  street  cars  anJ  railroads 
should  be  forced  to  use  these  underground  passages  as  is  done 
in  London.  The  street  cleaning  committee  appointed  by  the 
chairman  of  the  Citizens'  Meeting  held  in  Central  Music 
Hall,  Dec.  22,  1892,  numbering  one  hundred  prominent  res- 
idents of  Chicago,  will  find  ample  scope  for  their  energy  and 
talent  in  accomplishing  for  their  fellow  citizens  this  needed 
and  effective  remedial  act  of  justice. 


It  is  evident  to  all  who  investigate  the  manner  in  which 
American  cities  are  run,  and  compare  our  methods  with  those 
governing  such  cities  as  Birmingham,  Glasgow  and  even  the 
gay  and  worldly  Paris,  that  there  is  a  marked  difference  in 
favor  of  the  latter. 

The  practical  distinction  between  the  large  cities  of  Ger- 
many and  Great  Britain  and  those  of  the  United  States,  is: 


9.9. 


the  former  are  governed  in  fact  by  public  authority,  feared  and 
respected  by  the  people,  while  the  latter  are  not  BO  governed  or 
respected.  They  are  really  controlled  by  outside  business  cor- 
porations, such  as  street  car  and  gas  companies,  and  by  rings, 
schemers  and  political  parties.  The  legally  elected  governing 
power,  in  office  from  time  to  time,  is  used  by  these  to  subserve 
their  plans,  while  the  greater  interests  of  the  commonwealth 
are  ignored. 


COMPARISON     OF    EXPENSES    OF    RUNNING    ENGLISH    AND 
AMERICAN    CITIES. 

In  his  article  on  municipal  institutions  in  America  and  Eng- 
land, in  the  November  Forum,  the  Honorable  Joseph  Cham- 
berlain points  out  the  differences  in  expense  of  running  an 
English  city  and  an  American  city.  As  an  illustration  he 
compares  Boston  with  Birmingham.  "Anyone  who  knows 
the  two  cities,"  he  says,  "which  have  about  the  same  popula- 
tion (Boston  being  credited  with  448,000  in  1890  and  Birm- 
ingham with  430,000  in  1891)  will  admit  that  Birmingham 
enjoys  every  result  of  municipal  enterprise,  and  to  at  least  as 
great  an  extent  as  Boston.  Many  persons  would  be  inclined 
to  state  the  case  much  more  strongly  in  favor  of  Birmingham, 
which  also  possesses  many  developments  of  local  activity  not 
yet  approached  by  the  sister  city."  He  places  the  total  muni- 
cipal expenses  of  Birmingham  at  £333,000,  and  that  of  Boston 
$10.194,000,  or  more  than  six  times  the  expenditures  of  Birm- 
ingham. Although  in  the  calculation  Boston  has  been  taken 
as  a  convenient  subject  of  comparison,  it  must  not  be  sup- 
posed  that  Boston  stands  alone  or  is  comparatively  excessive 
in  its  expenditures.  In  the  census  bulletin,  No.  32,  published 
by  the  census  office,  the  superintendent,  the  Hon.  R.  P.  Por- 
ter, gives  the  statistics  of  the  expenditures  of  one  hundred 


23 

principal  and  representative  cities  of  the  United  States,  with  a 
total  population  of  12,425,366,  or  about  two-thirds  of  the 
urban  population  of  the  whole  country.  The  list  includes 
cities  of  every  class,  from  Burlington,  Vt.,  with  a  population 
of  14,590,  to  New  York  with  1,515,301;  and  the  respective 
expenditures  vary  from  $3.79  per  head  in  the  case  of  Little 
Rock,  Arkansas,  and  Oswego,  New  York,  to  $27.61  for  St. 
Paul,  Minnesota. 

"  The  total  ordinary  expenses  for  the  whole  of  the  hundred 
cities  are  given  as  $234,626,655.  Deducting  $7,166,901  for 
charitable  objects,  and  $19,086,751  for  water  works,  which  are 
expenses  not  represented  in  the  Birmingham  statistics,  there 
remains  $208,373,003,  or  $16.78  per  head  of  the  population. 
The  corresponding  expenditure  in  Birmingham,  including 
schools,  is  403,000  pounds,  which  is  equal  to  18s.  9d.,  or  $4.50 
per  head.  The  expenditure  of  Birmingham,  with  a  popula- 
tion of  430,000,  is,  therefore,  little  more  than  one-fourth  of  the 
average  of  one  hundred  American  cities,  great  and  small 
together. 

"  In  attempting  to  find  the  cause  of  the  great  difference  in 
cost  of  the  municipal  administration  of  the  two  countries,  it  is 
of  course  necessary  to  take  into  account  the  difference  in  the 
cost  of  wages.  A  second  reason  frequently  given  to  account 
for  the  extravagances  of  American  city  expenditures  is  the 
alleged  existance  of  deliberate  dishonesty  and  corruption  prac- 
ticed on  a  gigantic  scale.  In  the  popularly  elected  municipal- 
ities of  England  this  does  not  exist  and  has  never  existed. 

"There  remains  only  one  other  possible  cause;  and  that  is, 
that,  owing  to  ineffective  control  and  supervision  by  the  honor- 
ary members  of  the  Councils  in  the  first  place,  and  secondly 
by  the  chief  officials,  the  standard  of  work  has  fallen  too  low 
and  the  standard  of  payment  has  risen  too  high.  In  such 
cases  apathy  and  carelessness  would  soon  lead  to  general 
inefficiency  and  incompetence.  Places  without  work  would  be 
inordinately  multiplied  to  give  opportunities  for  patronage, 
and  we  may  be  sure  that,  whenever  four  men  are  chosen  to  do 


24 

a  task  which  one  can  easily  perform,  the  work  will  be  badly 
as  well  as  expensively  done;  hence  there  can  be  no  proper 
sense  of  responsibility  under  such  conditions.  Ignorance 
would  be  permitted  to  review  the  work  of  idleness;  and  dis- 
honesty, even  if  it  did  not  take  the  form  of  actual  theft,  would 
be  rife  in  the  shape  of  neglect  of  duty  and  inadequate  service.'' 
One  cause  in  Chicago  besides  those  mentioned  above,  is  the 
expense  of  running  a  City  and  County  government,  when  the 
former  would  answer  for  the  entire  County,  as  shown  by  the 
Hon.  Mayor  "Washburne  in  his  last  message. 

A  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENTS'  ACT. 

If  the  question  could  be  brought  before  congress,  and  that 
national  representative  body  could  give  us  a  "municipal  gov- 
ernments' act"  applicable  to  all  our  large  cities,  as  the  English 
parliament  gave  a  uniform  framework  of  municipal  govern- 
ment to  all  the  cities  of  the  United  Kingdom,  the  problem 
might  in  a  great  measure  be  solved.  There  is  no  reason  why 
New  York,  Chicago,  Philadelphia,  Brooklyn,  San  Francisco, 
Boston,  New  Orleans,  and  all  other  such  cities  in  the 
United  States  should  not  be  governed  substantially  by  the 
same  municipal  form  of  government.  This  should  be  reduced 
to  a  science,  and  be  taught  like  history  in  all  our  public 
schools,  so  that  every  one  may  understand  it  and  act  accord- 


The  vote  on  the  constitutional  amendment  submitted  to 
the  people  in  November,  18  91,  having  been  defeated,  Illinois 
has  practically  tied  her  hands,  temporarily,  so  that  she  can 
not  now  give  Chicago,  with  over  a  million  inhabitants,  a 
suitable  charter  without  forcing  the  same  on  many  other 
cities  in  the  state  which  do  not  require  it.  State  legis- 
latures will  continue  to  annoy  and  embarrass  the  larger 
cities  in  the  states  in  many  ways,  as  the  New  York  legislature 
has  done,  and  it  will  take  centuries  perhaps  to  accomplish  uni- 
versally in  the  United  States,  what  congress  with  the  bright 


25 

light  of  modern  intelligence  concentrated  upon  its  action, 
might  crystalize  in  one  act  for  the  benefit  of  all  present  and 
future  cities  in  the  United  States. 

Even  if  congress  could  not  force  its  conclusions  upon  all  our 
large  cities,  a  congressional  commission  appointed  to  formulate 
a  system  of  municipal  government  would  greatly  aid  state 
legislatures,  and  be  far  more  safe  to  follow  than  charters 
and  municipal  systems,  often  without  a  precedent  and  proposed 
by  experimentalists.  A  statement  which  is  here  ventured, 
that  all  large  cities  in  the  United  States  are  badly  governed ; 
that  their  corruption,  extravagance,  and  disorder  is  a  blot 
upon  the  proud  name  of  the  American  republic,  can  not  be 
contradicted.  This  being  the  fact  the  different  states  might 
well  call  upon  congress  for  an  investigation  and  for  a 
plan  of  speedy  and  radical  relief  in  this  direction.  Neither 
members  of  the  legislature  nor  of  a  common  council  are 
as  well  qualified  to  handle  this  important  question  as  con- 
gress, on  account  of  local  political  and  personal  interests.  Nor 
are  the  private  associations  springing  up  here  and  there  under 
various  names,  and  proposing  reforms.  These  could  not  be 
expected  to  contain  the  concentrated  wisdom  of  the  British  par 
liament  which  gave  the  British  nation  the  "municipal  govern- 
ments'act,"  or  the  ability  of  the  congress  of  the  United  States. 

STRONG  MUNICIPAL  ORGANIZATION   REQUIRED. 

It  will  require  strong  permanent  municipal  organizations  to 
hold  in  check  and  direct  the  great  heterogeneous  collections  of 
people  in  our  large  cities. 

In  Bryce's  American  Commonwealth  it  is  stated  "that  the 
number  of  persons  living  in  cities  exceeding  8,000  inhabitants 
to  the  total  population  of  the  United  States,  was,  in  1880,  22£ 
per  cent."  A  still  larger  proportion,  say  fifty  per  cent,  would 
now,  in  1892,  be  found  in  our  cities.  .A  great  part  of  the  wealth 
is  gathered  there.  Their  methods  of  government  are  of  high 
concern  to  Americans.  They  now  absolutely  control  the  gen- 


26 

eral  government  and  elect  its  chief  officers.  They  speak  to  the 
nation  in  tones  of  authority  from  the  Capitol  in  Washington. 
If  our  cities  are  badly  governed,  the  effect  is  speedily  apparent 
in  the  national  government.  "Gath,"  an  able  correspondent 
of  the  Chicago  Tribune,  writing  from  Washington,  recently 
pointed  out  the  great  power  in  National  politics  of  large 
American  cities.  He  says  "the  vast  patronage  of  American 
cities  has  won  the  multitude.  Congress  has  not  as  much 
to  give  away  as  has  been  given  away  in  New  York  city  in 
street  franchises  since  the  presidential  election ;  $359,000,000  are 
expended  annually  by  100  cities.  "Shall  state  legislatures,"  he 
says,  "register  the  edict  of  the  municipal  caitiffs  and  elect  to 
the  United  States  senate  the  brewer  who  assisted  Senator  Hill 
with  the  power  of  all  the  breweries  and  saloons  in  the  State?" 
Yes.  And  "  Senator"  Murphy  is  now  there. 

"  This  is  the  great  new  question  of  politics!  To  this  issue 
tariff  is  nothing  !  "  says  "  Gath  "  who  is  an  experienced  jour- 
nalist. 


THE  THEEE  BRANCHES  OF  GOVERNMENT. 

I  n  all  well  regulated  governments,  whether  of  the  nation, 
state  or  municipality,  there  should  be  an  efficient-and  well  de- 
fined executive,  legislative  and  judicial  department. 

THE  EXECUTIVE. 

Where  so  many  important  interests  are  at  stake,  and  so 
diversified  a  population  is  to  be  governed,  it  is  evident  that 
the  executive  should  be  a  personage  eminently  qualified  for 
the  position.  He  should  be  clothed  with  sufficient  power  to 
enable  him  to  carry  forward,  during  his  administration,  with 
dispatch  and  regularity,  the  great  organization  of  which  he 
should  be  the  head. 


27 

The  Honorable  Seth  |Low,  formerly  Mayor  of  Brooklyn, 
under  whose  administration  that  city  was  judiciously  and  pro- 
perly governed,  is  in  favor  of  granting  a  large  measure  of 
power  to  the  mayor  or  executive  of  the  city.  He  says,  "when 
one  reflects  that  in  the  government  of  the  United  States,  the 
immense  administrative  departments,  like  the  Treasury  and 
the  Post  Office,  have,  from  the  beginning  of  the  government, 
been  committed  to  the  care  of  a  single  man,  it  seems  strange 
that  in  their  cities  Americans  should  have  been  so  unwilling 
to  proceed  upon  the  same  theory."  In  Brooklyn  the 
Mayor  appoints  the  heads  of  all  departments,  who  in  turn 
appoint  their  own  subordinates.  Philadelphia,  Boston  and 
New  York  are  following  the  example  of  Brooklyn,  by  increasing 
the  power  of  the  mayor. 

As  the  Mayor  should  devote  all  his  time  to  the  business  of 
the  great  corporation  of  which  he  is  the  head,  he  should  be 
paid  a  salary  which  would  compensate  a  man  who  could,  in 
any  other  department  of  business,  of  equal  importance,  com- 
mand a  salary  of  $25,000  at  least.  With  its  population  of 
362,839  in  1890,  Boston  paid  its  Mayor  $10,000  a  year,  while 
Chicago,  with  1,350,000,  pays  but  $7,000.  With  a  salary  of 
$25,000,  the  mayor  should  be  expected  to  look  after  his  own 
corporation's  financial  and  general  welfare  the  same  as  the 
president  of  a  railroad.  He  should  not  use  his  position  to 
advance  the  interests  of  other  corporations,  and  he  and  his 
constituents  should  be  responsible  for  the  administration. 

Professor  Bryce  compares  the  municipality  "to  a  business 
corporation  or  company  in  which  the  tax-payers  are  sharehold- 
ers, doing  through  the  agency  of  the  city  officers  things  which 
each  might  do  for  himself  with  more  cost  and  labor."  Hon. 
Charles  Francis  Adams  holds  "the  municipality  is  a  mere 
business  organization,"  and  says  "it  is  no  part  of  the  proper 
function  of  those  handling  municipal  affairs  to  consider  phil- 
osophical principles  of  statecraft.  They  are,  on  the  contrary, 
persons  selected  by  the  constituencies  to  do  the  work  intrusted 
to  them  because  the  constituent  masses  have  proven  so  large 


that  they  can  no  longer  meet  in  one  body  to  do  that  work  them- 
selves.  The  function  of  the  municipal  officer  is,  therefore,  to 
administer  the  affairs  of  each  community  in  an  intelligent  and 
business  like  way.  In  accordance  with  such  views,  the  mayor 
should  be  selected  not  so  much  on  account  of  his  political  creed 
as  for  his  well-known  business  and  executive  qualities." 

The  lit.  Honorable  Joseph  Chamberlain,  in  an  article  in  the 
November  Forum,  preceding  the  article  on  municipal  affairs 
by  Hon.  Charles  Francis  Adams,  states,  that  "the  leading  idea 
of  the  English  system  of  municipal  government  may  be  said 
to  be  that  of  a  joint  stock  or  co-operative  enterprise,  in  which 
every  citizen  is  a  shareholder,  and  of  which  the  dividends  are 
receivable  in  the  improved  health  and  the  increase  in  the  com- 
fort and  happiness  of  the  community.  The  members  of  the 
council  are  the  directors  of  the  great  business."  The  mayor 
would  be  in  our  system,  the  president  of  the  Board  of  Direc- 
tors. 

THE    LEGISLATIVE. 

Referring  to  the  Qnincy,  Mass.,  charter,  Hon.  Charles 
Francis  Adams  says:  "The  analogy  of  the  business  cor- 
poration should  have  been  followed  to  its  full  extent,  and 
all  the  members  of  the  legislative  department  should 
have  been  chosen  at  large,  regardless  of  Ward  lines;  with, 
moreover,  some  provision  for  minority  representation.  This 
result,  it  is  argued,  would  have  been  brought  about  to 
manifest  advantage,  had  the  charter  provided  for  the  elec- 
tion of  a  council  to  be  comprised  of  fifteen,  or  twenty-one,  or 
twenty-four  members,  as  might  be  thought  best,  all  to  be 
chosen  at  large,  while  no  voter  could  vote  for  over  two-thirds 
of  the  entire  number  to  be  chosen;  but  on  the  other  hand,  each 
voter  should  have  been  at  liberty  to  concentrate  all  or  any  por- 
tion of  the  votes  he  could  cast  on  one  or  more  candidates,  or 
to  distribute  them  among  the  full  number  he  was  entitled  to 
vote  for,  giving  one  vote  to  each.  The  fifteen,  twenty-one  or 


29 

twenty-four  candidates  who  received  in  this  way  the  largest 
number  of  votes,  irrespective  of  the  size  of  the  several  votes  as 
compared  with  the  whole  or  each  other,  would  be  elected  and 
would  compose  the  council." 

"It  would  surely  require  no  great  degree  of  ingenuity  to  devise 
a  local  municipal  system  under  which  it  would  be  practical  for 
a  scattered  constituency,  no  longer  imprisoned  in  ward  lines, 
so  that  those  composing  it  may  the  more  conveniently  be  throt- 
tled by  ward  politicians,  so  to  concentrate  itself  as  to  escape 
complete  suppression." 

PROPORTIONAL    REPRESENTATION. 

Dr.  John  M.  Yincent,  professor  of  history  at  Johns  Hopkins 
University,  calls  attention  to  the  system  of  proportional  repre- 
sentation in  vogue  in  the  Canton  of  Ticino,  Switzerland.  He 
says:  "In  Ticino,  the  amendment  to  the  constitution  was  adopted 
March  8,  1891,  by  a  very  even  vote.  The  test  is  chiefly 
devoted  to  the  new  division  of  the  country  into  districts,  etc., 
and  simply  states  that  hereafter  deputies  to  the  grand  council 
constituent  assemblies  and  municipal  councils  shall  be  elected 
by  the  proportional  system,  in  which  electors  have  the  right  to 
vote  for  candidates  of  various  groups. 

The  constitutions  of  Neuchatel,  Luzerne,  Sulothurn,  and  St. 
Gallen  favor  the  system  indirectly.  Various  groups  signify 
different  parties,  and  under  this  system  each  party  will  be 
represented  in  the  assembly.  A  majority  vote  of  one  party 
will  not  defeat  the  entire  vote  of  the  minority  party,  but  the 
latter  will  still  hold  a  minority  representation  in  the  assembly. 
The  sum  of  all  the  votes  received  by  all  the  groups  is 
divided  by  the  number  of  deputies  to  be  elected,  and  this 
gives  the  "electorial  quotient."  Each  group  has  a  right  to  as 
many  deputies  as  the  electorial  quotient  is  contained  times  in 
the  number  of  votes  received  by  the  group.  Groups  having 
a  less  number  of  votes  than  the  electorial  quotient  do  not 
participate  in  the  division. 


CANDIDATES  MUST  QUALIFY. 

The  city  council,  which  receives  its  legislative  power  from 
the  state  legislature  through  the  city  charter,  instead  of  being 
left  unprotected  from  ward  intriguers  and  machine  politicians, 
who  are  always  ready  to  capture  it,  and  who  are  willing  to  pur- 
chase at  high  figures  their  election,  should  be  entirely  recon- 
structed. As  there  will  always  be  a  scramble  for  all  offices, 
and  especially  that  of  councilor,  the  position  should  be  strictly 
guarded.  It  should  not  be  easy  to  qualify.  The  applicant 
should  be  a  resident  of  city  and  pay  taxes  for  at  least  five  years ; 
not  engaged  in  keeping  a  saloon  or  gambling  house,  and  free 
from  any  criminal  offence  or  misdemeanor. 

HOW    SHOULD   COUNCILORS   BE    ELECTED? 

In  some  cities  a  board  of  aldermen  are  elected  on  a  general 
ticket  and  a  board  of  councilmen  by  wards.  Two  houses  are 
thus  formed,  as  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  in 
Congress.  This  would  check  too  hasty  legislation.  New  York, 
Boston,  Baltimore,  Brooklyn,  Philadelphia,  St.  Louis,  Denver 
and  many  other  American  cities  have  two  houses.  Hon. 
Albert  Shaw  states  in  the  Century,  that  "  A  few  years  ago  a 
council  committee,  of  which  Segismond  LaCroix  was  chairman, 
reported  an  interesting  scheme  of  municipal  organization  for 
Paris.  It  provided  for  a  council  consisting  as  at  present  of  at 
least  four  members  from  each  arrondisement  but  additional 
representation  for  larger  ones,  increasing  the  total  body  from 
eighty  to  one  hundred  and  nine  members.  The  council  were  to 
be  elected  for  three  years,  one-third  retiring  annually,  as  in  Eng- 
land, and  the  elections  were  to  be  upon  general  arrondisement 
ticket,  a  great  improvement  upon  the  present  plan  of  uni- 
nominal  election  quarters  which  necessarily  tends  to  n' 11  the 
council  with  obscure  men." 

Councilors  are  elected  on  a  general  ticket  in  London,  Bir- 
mingham, Glasgow,  Dresden  and  many  other  European  cities. 
Honorable  Seth  Low  is  authority  for  the  statement  that  "as  a 


31 

general  proposition  it  is  found  in  American  cities  that  the 
larger  the  constituency  to  which  a  candidate  must  appeal,  and 
the  more  important  the  offices  the  more  of  a  man  the  candi- 
dates must  be." 

The  council  of  Brooklyn  consists  of  nineteen  members, 
twelve  of  whom  are  elected  from  three  districts,  each  having 
four  aldermen,  the  remainings  even  being  elected  as  aldermen 
at  large  by  the  -whole  city. 

In  St.  Louis  the  assembly  is  composed  of  two  houses.  The 
council  consists  of  thirteen  members  elected  for  four  years  by 
general  ticket.  The  board  of  delegates  consists  of  twenty- 
eight  members,  one  for  each  ward.  This  city  is  governed  by 
a  charter  or  scheme  of  government,  which  in  pursuance  of  a 
special  provision  for  that  purpose  in  the  last  constitution  of 
Missouri,  1875,  was  prepared  by  a  board  of  thirteen  freehold- 
ers elected  by  the  people  of  the  city  and  county  of  St.  Louis, 
and  was  finally  adopted  and  ratified  by  the  people  themselves 
by  a  vote  at  the  polls,  August  22.  1876.  Boston  also  has  two 
houses. 

Albert  Shaw,  in  March  Century,  1890,  states  in  an  article  on 
"Glasgow;  a  Municipal  Study,"  that  "The  whole  government 
of  Glasgow  may  be  said  to  be  exercised  by  a  grand  committee 
of  fifty  men  chosen  by  the  qualified  electors.  The  election  is 
for  a  term  of  three  years,  and  one  man  from  each  ward  retires 
annually.  From  their  own  number  the  councilors  choose  a 
provost,  who  corresponds  to  the  mayor  in  English  towns,  but 
he  is  not  an  administrative  head  as  the  American  mayors  are." 
"There  is  not,"  he  continues,  "in  British  cities  any  disposition 
whatever  to  concentrate  appointing  power  and  executive  con- 
trol in  the  hands  of  one  man  as  an  effective  way  to  secure 
responsible  administration.  There  is  nothing  in  British  organi- 
zation or  experience  to  sustain  the  proposition  of  certain  muni- 
cipal reformers,  that  good  city  government  can  be  secured  by 
making  the  mayor  a  dictator.  All  the  appointments  are  made 
by  the  council.  Heads  of  departments  are  selected  with  great 
care,  and  their  places  are  practically  permanent."  In  remodel- 


ing  our  charter  this  question  of  the  power  of  the  council  and 
that  of  the  major  should  be  carefully  considered.  If  mem- 
bers of  the  council  were  business  men,  and  upright,  respected 
and  successful  citizens,  like  those  of  Glasgow  are  said  to  be,  it 
would  be  safe  to  leave  all  this  power  in  their  hands  while  the 
mayor  would  act  merely  as  president  of  the  council.  But  it 
would  not  do  unless  the  character  of  our  council,  judging 
by  the  past,  is  entirely  changed. 

The  government  of  London  is  under  the  county  council. 
Mr.  Shaw  states,  "The  absolute  control  of  municipal  affairs  by 
one  central,  elective  body,  representing  the  masses  of  the  citi- 
zens, will  be  the  permanent  and  final  government  of  this  chief 
of  urban  communities."  Such  is  the  British  ideal  of  a  per- 
fect municipal  government. 

CoUncilmen  should  be  paid  from  $3,000  to  $5,000  per  year 
instead  of  $3.00  a  session  as  now,  and  be  subject  to  removal 
for  malfeasance  in  office,  on  conviction.  An  honest  man  can 
then  afford  to  take  the  office  and  spend  a  portion  of  his  time 
in  attending  to  the  affairs  of  the  city,  which  he  could  not  do  if 
depending  on  his  time  and  strength  for  a  living.  Honest  men 
who  can  come  up  to  the  requirements  prescribed,  could  then 
compete  with  men  who  seek  the  office  only  for  plunder. 

STOP  THE  PURCHASE  OF  ELECTIONS. 

If  we  punish  the  corrupt  use  of  money  at  elections  we  might 
succeed  in  getting  better  men  elected  to  the  council.  Mr. 
Shaw  refers  to  elections  in  London  as  follows:  "All  the 
stringent  regulations  against  the  lavish  and  corrupt  use  of 
money  that  have-proved  so  salutary  in  purifying  English  par- 
liamentary elections,  have  been'  made  applicable  to  the  elec- 
tion of  London  councilors.  Under  no  circumstances  may  the 
election  expenses  of  a  councilor  aggregate  more  than  twenty- 
five  pounds.  All  expenditures  must  be  made  through  author- 
ized agents  and  these  must  report  the  items  to  the  candidate, 
who  within  one  month  must  render  a  complete  return  of 


expenses  incurred  in  his  election."  These  laws  are  construed 
strictly,  carry  heavy  penalties  and  are  scrupulously  observed. 
If  voters  could  be  compelled  to  vote  or  forfeit  their  right  unless 
good  cause  for  abstaining  can  be  given  it  would  bring  out  the 
better  classes. 

How  are  our  common  councilmen  elected  in  Chicago? 
What  does  it  usually  cost  to  be  elected  in  some  of  the  thickly 
settled  wards  at  present  ?  A  "  councilor  "  from  the  principal 
saloon  in  his  wardr  where  the  boys  get  free  drinks,  lays  his 
plans  to  capture  the  ward.  He  pays  $100  or  $200  to  a  num- 
ber of  henchmen  well  known  in  each  precinct,  to  work  pri- 
maries and  the  final  election,  and  before  he  covers  the  entire 
ground  it  may  cost  him  $3,000  or  $4,000,  which  he  willingly  ex- 
pends to  be  elected  to  a  seat  in  the  council  which  pays  annually 
$150.  Men  elected  in  this  way  should  have  every  possible 
power  taken  out  of  their  hands  as  has  been  attempted  in  New 
York  and  Brooklyn. 

DAYLIGHT  SESSIONS. 

The  city  council  remodeled  for  Chicago,  if  possible,  with  an 
upper  and  lower  house,  should  hold  its  sessions  during  broad 
daylight,  two  or  three  times  a  week,  so  as  to  continually  and 
speedily  dispose  of  all  routine  business  and  hear  reports  of 
standing  committees,  etc. 


UNITE   CITY    AND    COUNTY. 


To  concentrate  the  municipal  business,  the  county,  city,  and 
towns  should  be  merged  into  one  government. 

April  18,  1892,  Mayor  Washburne,  in  his  message  to 
the  council,  says:  "In  this  connection  1  would  suggest 
the  desirability  of  taking  some  action  toward  bringing 
about  legislation  amending  the  law  governing  our  present 
method  of  assessment  and  collection  of  taxes.  Under  the 
3 


30 

our  liberty  and  enlightenment  and  wonderful  achievements. 
We  will  learn  that  tall  buildings,  gigantic  trusts  and  corrupt 
officials  do  not  constitute  a  model  city,  and  that  only  by  eter- 
nal vigilance  can  its  citizens  maintain  their  rights. 

Frank  P.  Pritchard,  of  Philadelphia,  publishes  an  article  on 

"THE  SCIENCE  or  MUNINCIPAL  GOVERNMENT." 

in  the  Annals  of  the  American  Academy  of  Political  and 
Social  Science  for  January,  1892,  in  which  he  states  that  in 
the  city  of  Philadelphia,  (where  the  men  and  money  came 
from  which  captured  our  streets  for  the  dangerous  cable 
system  for  which  Chicago  gets  little  or  nothing),  "  the  com- 
munity was  startled  by  the  discovery  of  the  dishonesty  of  a 
public  official.  The  same  investigations  which  disclosed  his 
guilt,  disclosed  also  a  looseness  of  administration  of  state  and 
city  finances  which  gave  opportunity  to  it,  if  it  did  not  sug- 
gest the  crime."  He  claims  that  the  system  by  which  our 
cities  are  governed  is  wrong,  and  that  "  the  control  of 
accumulated  capital  by  corporations  has  introduced  a  dan- 
gerous force  into  the  operations  of  trade  and  commerce, 
and  the  phenomenal  increase  of  large  cities  has  introduced  an 
equally  dangerous  factor  into  the  domain  of  politics.  The 
ordinary  administrative  machinery  of  the  government,  con" 
etructed  for  a  less  complex  condition  of  society,  is  proving 
inadequate.  A  more  scientific  construction  and  a  more  sys- 
tematic operation  is  imperative." 

The  action  of  the  mayor  and  common  council,  if  investi- 
gated by  a  grand  jury  in  reference  to  its  action  in  granting  the 

"  CHICAGO  POWER  SUPPLY  AND  SMOKE  ABATING  ORDINANCE," 

might  disclose  not  only  a  startling  state  of  crookedness  in  our 
council,  but  also  a  fatal  weakness  in  our  corporate  system. 

The  Legislature  should  appoint  a  commission  to  investigate 
the  methods  which  now  obtain  in  the  management  of  our  city 
affairs. 


37 

The  men  who  voted  for  this  measure  can  hardly  claim  to  be 
friends  of  the  people,  and  looseness  of  city  affairs  have  enabled 
them  to  act  as  the  tools  of  monopolists  seeking  to  divest  Chicago 
citizens  of  valuable  municipal  properties  or  privileges,  in  order, 
perhaps,  to  participate  in  the  profits  of  this  new  monopoly  them- 
selves. They  made  no  effort  to  make  the  best  bargain  for 
the  city,  or  to  replenish  her  treasury  beyond  an  uncertain 
per  cent;  they  yielded  all  that  was  asked.  If  these  men 
had  performed  their  duty  as  the  council  of  Glasgow,  London 
or  Paris  would  have  been  expected  to  do  by  those  cities,  they 
would  have  obtained  a  large  annual  income  and  charged  a 
round  sum  of  money  for  the  benefit  of  the  city  for  its  princely 
grant,  or  they  would  have  retained  the  rights  our  council  gave 
away,  and  operated  the  same  scheme  for  the  direct  advantage 
of  the  city.  But  the  people's  representatives  apparently  forgot 
who  they  were  acting  for. 

The  city  of  Glasgow  is  so  averse  to  giving  up  the  control  of 
its  streets  to  any  corporation  for  street  car  or  other  uses,  that 
it  opposes  every  bill  in  parliament  asking  power  to  invade  its 
streets.  It  constructed  its  own  street  car  lines  or  tramways, 
and  leased  them  to  the  company  proposing  to  operate  them, 
for  a  term  of  years,  but  it  retained  absolute  ownership  of 
streets  and  tracks.  The  result  of  this  patriotic  interest  of  the 
council  in  the  city,  will  be  that  the  entire  cost  of  the  car  lines 
will  be  paid  back  and  that  the  city  will  own  them  clear,  and 
obtain  a  large  rental  annually  from  leasing  them.  These 
councilmen  of  Glasgow  provided  in  the  lease  that  morning 
and  evening  cars  should  be  run  for  the  workingmen  at  half 
price.  Have  the  workingmen  of  Chicago  such  men  in  the 
council  to  look  after  their  interests?  Why  not  force  the  men 
who  sell  their  votes,  whether  republicans  or  democrats,  out 
of  office,  and  prosecute  them  until  they  are  driven  out  of  the 
city  and  into  the  penitentiary  for  bribery  and  conspiracy? 

Glasgow  has  reduced  the  indebtedness  for  gas  works  from 
$5,330,000  for  the  entire  outlay  to  $2,400,000,  and  owns  its 
plant.  All  this  good  work  for  Glasgow  was  accomplished  by 


its  fifty  councilmen  who  would  not  be  bribed  by  American 
street  car  companies  to  give  up  their  streets  to  a  greedy  mono- 
poly or  hand  the  people  over  to  a  grinding  gas  trust.  Glasgow 
does  not  exist  under  a  republican  form  of  government  either, 
like  the  city  of  Chicago.  But  among  its  voters  are  included 
all  adults  who  occupy  homes,  however  small  the  rent,  and  pay 
their  poor  rates.  Women  householders  are  also  admitted  to 
vote.  In  1890  the  male  voters  thus  enfranchised  numbered 
75.000  and  the  women  14,750. 

The  people  should  have  an  appeal  from  the  action  of  a  city 
council  so  plainly  against  the  public  good  as  the  ordinance 
passed  for  the  benefit  of  a  private  corporation  like  the 
"  Power  Supply  Company,"  which  simply  paid  the  state  $3  50 
for  a  license  to  organize  and  then  sent  a  draft  of  the  ordinance 

0 

to  the  council.  Property  owners  whose  property  is  affected 
should  enjoin  the  company  from  tearing  up  the  streets.  The 
Supreme  Court  of  the  state  should  be  called  upon  to  interfere 
and  test  the  right  of  the  council  to  deprive  for  all  time  1,350,- 
000  citizens  of  the  State  of  Illinois  of  the  equitable  use  and 
control  of  their  own  #treett  and  alleys.  There  may  be  technical 
points  that  may  invalidate  this  reckless  grab  if  contested,  and  the 
legislature  should  provide  some  way  to  protect  the  people  from 
such  high  bounded  imposition  in  the  future. 

But  this  is  only  another  startling  illustration  proving  that 
the  method  of  conducting  our  municipal  government  is  wrong. 
If  we  possessed  an  upper  house  of  well-selected  aldermen, 
elected  on  a  general  ticket,  and  a  lower  house  of  councilmen 
chosen  by  wards,  the  upper  house,  if  composed  of  the  right 
material,  would  have  been  a  check  on  the  lower  house  and  stop- 
ped the  passage  of  this  ordinance. 

r  s. 

There  is  no  place  in  this  business  of  running  a  great  city, 
for  den  to  introduce  their  private  schemes,  nor  for  public 
representatives  who  boldly  misdirect  and  abuse  the  confidence 
placed  in  them  by  the  people  electing  them.  The  million  or 
more  of  citizens  in  the  great  free  city  of  the  lakes  should 
arise  in  their  majesty,  and  not  rest  until  their  betrayers  are 


39 

punished.  City  officials  should  be  promptly  compelled  to  do 
their  sworn  duty  or  suffer  instantly  for  their  lack  of  fidelity, 
when  the  lives  of  thousands  are  at  stake. 

In  free  America  we  endure  from  city  officials  wrongs  the 
citizens  of  a  German  empire  or  an  English  kingdom  would 
nc-ver  submit  to.  Paris  of  to-day  is  a  model  city,  but  we 
see  it  after,  not  before  the  reign  of  terror,  when  it  was  ruled 
by  a  privileged  class,  corresponding  to  our  monopolists  and 
those  who  control  great  corporations. 

The  granting  of  franchises  must  be  submitted  to  the  people. 
The  present  Legislature  could  at  least  help  the  forgotten  mill- 
ion in  Chicago  by  passing  a  law  applicable  to  all  cities  on  this 
point.  The  city  should  only  lease  privileges. 

WE   KEEP    *4  THK   BEST  "   ItEX    OUT. 

Hon.  Charles  Francis  Adams  says  in  the  Forum  of  No- 
vember, '92:  "It is  true — and  for  us  very  sadly  true — that 
the  whole  underlying  political  machinery  now  in  common  use 
in  American  cities  is  admirably  adapted — as  admirably  as  if 
it  were  BO  designed — to  put  control  securely  in  the  hands  of  the 
professionals.  The  caucus  system  supplements  the  ward  sys- 
tem. To  be  in  public  life  in  America,  whether  in  the  national 
Congress  or  the  city  government,  a  man  must  be  a  member  of 
the  political  majority  in  the  locality  in  which  he  chances  to 
^ive.  A  political  system  better  adapted  to  throwing  control 
into  the  hands  of  those  who  will  use  it  for  ulterior  and  selfish 
ends,  and  for  keeping  the  best  men  out  of  the  field  of  public 
usefulness  could  not  be  devised:  and  so  it  is  against  this  part 
of  the  existing  political  machinery,  I  submit,  that  the  char- 
ter-makers and  reformers  should  now  direct  their  efforts,  rather 
than  in  the  direction  of  more  ingenious  contrivances  for  the 
division  of  functions  of  representation.  We  reach  our  results 
today  by  the  process  of  counting  noses,  pro  and  cont  within 
the  pale  of  certain  geographical  ring-fences,  known  as  district 
and  ward  lines." 


40 

The  puzzle,  therefore,  the  charter  reformer  has  to  work  outr 
if  he  is  going  to  get  down  to  the  root  of  the  matter,  is  some 
political  system  which  shall  secure  the  utmost  free  play  of  the 
individual  citizen,  and  the  representation  of  minorities  in 
municipal  affairs;  having  done  this,  and  having  thus  set  indi- 
viduals free  and  made  minorities  potent,  it  will  be  for  those 
composing  the  minorities,  to  put  their  hands,  as  of  old,  on  the 
shoulders  of  the  "  best  men  "  and  enact  of  them  compulsory, 
municipal  service,  those  civic  tours  of  public  duty.  The  above 
statements  are  given  to  show  some  of  the  difficulties  to  be 
overcome  before  we  can  have  proper  men  elected  to  the  Coun- 
cil. 

NEEDED    LEGISLATION    NEGLECTED. 

Very  little  good  can  be  accomplished  by  electing  a  compe- 
tent mayor  when  the  council  is  composed  of  men  elected  as 
now,  from  wards,  without  adequate  compensation  from  the  city^ 
who  pay  no  attention  to  the  wishes  of  the  executive  when 
he  wants  to  accomplish  anything  for  the  public  welfare^ 
but  who  lend  themselves  as  willing  servants  to  schemers  and  cor- 
rupt corporations  who  pay  them  for  their  services.  Hon.  Mayor 
Washburne  states  in  his  report  April  18,  1893,  that  "sixty  out 
of  sixty -three  ordinances  for  the  improvement  of  streets  within 
the  territory  named,  which  had  been  agreed  upon,  were 
defeated."  Again,  referring  to  the  House  of  Correction:  "At 
the  present  time  three  prisoners  are  compelled  to  sleep  in  one 
cell,  with  only  one  cot,  each  cell  being  6x4  feet  in  size. 
Although  the  state  of  affairs  herein  referred  to  has  been  re- 
peatedly brought  to  the  attention  of  the  authorities  by  the 
superintendent,  it  has  not  been  remedied,  because  the  city  has 
not  the  money  wherewith  to  do  it.  It  is  time  this  community 
should  take  up  this  matter  in  earnest  and  see  to  it  that  boys 
should  not  be  subjected  to  corrupting  influences  which  make 
criminals  instead  of  reforming  vicious  and  smart  children." 

The  majority  of  the  councilmen  were  too  busy  giving  away, 
for  private  considerations,  rich  franchises,  which  in  Glasgow 


•±1 

or  Birmingham  would  have  netted  the  city  millions  of  dollars, 
or  would  not  have  been  granted,  while  the  improvement  of 
streets  is  disregarded.  The  youth  committed  to  the  care  of  re- 
formatory institutions,  are  grossly  neglected,  when  under  our 
present  system  of  ward  elections  these  same  neglected  vaga- 
bonds may  in  a  few  years  be  voted  into  the  council  and  become 
as  prominent  and  trustworthy  as  the  present  incumbents.  If 
Chicago  does  not  have  money  to  meet  the  demands  of  reform- 
atory institutions  and  streets,  it  is  the  fault  of  the  aldermen, 
who  could  have  demanded  and  obtained  from  different  cor- 
porations annually,  large  revenues. 


THE  JUDICIAL  DEPARTMENT. 

As  to  this  department,  there  is  no  call  for  an  immediate 
change.  Others  may  find  cause  for  reform  here,  but  it  is  not 
considered  necessary  to  open  the  question  in  this  connection, 
except  in  reference  to  police  justices. 

JUSTICES'   COUETS. 

All  the  justices  of  the  peace  m  Chicago  are  appointed  by 
the  Governor  on  recommendation  of  the  judges  of  the  Circuit, 
Superior,  and  County  Courts.  From  their  number  are  selected 
the  police  magistrates,  who  attend  to  the  city's  business,  such 
as  breaches  of  the  peace  and  violations  of  city  ordinances. 
The  city  justices  are  paid  $2,500  per  annum  besides  clerk 
hire,  fuel  and  rent-free  quarters.  They  should,  to  comply 
with  the  terms  of  their  contract,  turn  in  to  the  city  treasury  all 
their  receipts  for  fines,  costs,  etc.  There  is,  probably,  no  more 
prolific  source  of  scandal  and  reproach  than  these  "justices' 
shops "  as  they  are  not  inaptly  termed.  Of  them  the  June, 
1892,  grand  jury  report  says,  "  there  are  many  men  occupying 


4-2 

the  position  of  Justice  of  the  Peace  in  this  county  who  are 
wholly  unfitted  for  this  responsible  position,  both  from  lack 
of  ability  and  want  of  proper  comprehension  of  the  rules  of 
law,  justice  or  honesty."  A  later  publication  by  the  Xews 
Record  of  this  city  gives  the  following: 

"Under  the  law  as  it  now  exists,  justices  of  the  peace  get 
their  compensation  out  of  the  fees  earned  by  them.  It  is 
therefore  important  for  them  to  have  as  many  suits  brought 
before  them  as  possible.  A  collection  agency  bringing  a  large 
number  of  suits  is  a  valuable  customer.  If  such  agencies  are 
pleased  with  the  decisions  of  the  justices  they  will  bring  more 
suits  in  his  court,  and  the  justice  will  make  more  fees.  If 
displeased,  they  will  seek  some  more  complacent  justice,  and 
take  their  source  of  revenue  to  some  other  court.  Let  the  jus- 
tice be  ever  so  fair-minded  a  man,  he  will  be  subject  to  the 
continual  temptation  of  resolving  judicial  questions  in  favor  of 
his  customer;  and,  if  he  be  corrupt,  this  system  will  enable 
him  to  make  large  profits  out  of  a  judicial  office  where,  in  the 
majority  of  instances,  the  litigants  are  among  the  poor  and 
most  helpless  classes. 

"In  the  police  courts  the  system  is  still  worse.  It  is  a  mat- 
ter of  common  notoriety  that  in  these  courts  policemen  bring 
in  hundreds  of  the  unfortunate  and  disorderly  elements  of  the 
city  without  warrants  or  any  other  process  of  law  and  lock 
them  up  in  the  stations  until  they  are  bailed  out.  One  or 
more  professional  bailers  are  attached  to  each  court.  These 
bailers  receive  from  $3  to  $10.  in  accordance  with  the  amount 
of  money  possessed  by  the  victim,  for  signing  a  bail  bond. 

PROFIT    BY    CONTINUANCES. 

"The  justice  receives  $1  for  taking  the  bond  and  $1  for  each 
renewal  thereof,  and  such  renewal  is  necessary  on  each  con- 
tinuance. It  will  be  readily  seen  that  when  continuances  yield 
the  justice  SI  apiece  for.  approving  the  new  bond,  there  is  con- 
siderable inducement  to  granting  continuances,  because  they 


inure  to  his  profit.  Aside  from  the  professional  bailer  another 
hanger-on  of  the  police  court  is  the  professional  shyster,  who 
has  a  "pull"  with  the  justice  and  the  officers  at  the  station. 
He  frequently  acts  in  the  double  capacity  of  attorney  and 
bailer,  and  it  is  a  recognized  fact  that  these  professional  atten- 
dants of  the  court  have  more  or  less  influence  or  "pull"  with 
the  justice.  How  this  particular  influence  is  acquired  must  be 
left  to  inference;  that  it  exists  is  unquestionable. 

"The  Citizens'  Association  of  Chicago,  which  has  given  this 
matter  careful  attention  during  the  last  two  years,  and  has  laid 
the  facts  before  the  chief  of  police  and  the  mayor,  has  caused 
to  be  made  the  subjoined  schedule  of  the  number  of  cases 
brought,  fines  paid,  amount  paid  to  comptroller,  number  of 
discharges,  fines  suspended  and  number  of  cases  continued, 
which  furnishes  its  own  commentary  as  to  the  mode  of  admin- 
istration in  the  police  courts  of  Chicago: 


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9 

.74 

M.  Eberhardt  

1,176 

257.50 

350 

36 

224 

7 

2 

11 

454 

85 

.21 

J.  C.  Dooley  

732 

263.00 

307 

49 

198 

6 

11 

13 

229 

26 

.36 

J.  Blume  -       

711 

110.00 

•328 

13 

58 

11 

5 

35 

365 

24 

C.  W.  Woodman.. 

1,672 

583.00 

348 

124 

453 

25 

69 

5 

561 

31 

'.35/Z 

D.Scully  

283 

242.00 

53 

0 

105 

10 

45 

10 

42 

6 

•85  U 

O.  Severson  

781 

649.00 

152 

48 

277 

25 

68 

45 

161 

23 

.83 

D.  J.  Lyon.  

2,017 

951.85 

570 

274 

680 

47 

26 

28 

595 

36 

.47V 

E.  T.  Glennon  

3,069 

1,493.90 

990 

230 

43 

51 

62 

1,278 

49 

:49  2 

\ 

JUSTICES   ARE    INFLUENCED    BY    THE    FEES. 

"  From  these  figures  it  appears  that  the  arrests  made  by  the 
police  are  in  nearly  one-half  of  the  instances  of  innocent  par- 


44 

ties,  or,  at  any  rate,  without  any  evidence  upon  which  to  base 
a  conviction.  It  also  shows  that  the  j  ustices  are  influenced  by 
the  money  to  be  made  by  continuances,  for  themselves  and  the 
hangers-on  of  the  station.  For  example,  Justice  Glennon,  out 
of  3,069  cases  brought  before  him  in  one  month,  continued 
1,27  Scases;  Justice  Eberhardt  fined  224  prisoners  $257.50,  out 
of  a  total  of  1,176  prisoners.  An  analysis  of  ^the  figures  in  the 
foregoing  schedule  leads  to  the  necessary  inference  that  either 
the  police  most  recklessly  and  unlawfully  arrest  innocent  par- 
ties, or  else  the  straw  bailers  or  other  hangers-on  induce  the 
justices  to  remit  the  fines  or  discharge  the  prisoners  in  cases 
where  the  parties  are  guilty. 

"  Another  effect  of  these  frequent  continuances  is,  that  where 
a  law-abiding  citizen  has  been  injured  in  his  person  or  prop- 
erty and  seeks  to  prosecute  the  offender,  he  is  worn  out  by  the 
process  of  allowing  a  case  to  be  continued  from  time  to  time 
until  he  can  no  further  follow  it,  and  the  prisoner  is  thereupon 
discharged  for  want  of  prosecution. 

"  The  system  of  inferior  courts  now  prevalent  in  the  city  of 
Chicago  was  well  adapted  to  the  primitive  communities  which 
first  used  it,  where  the  justice  was  a  substantial  farmer  or  citi- 
zen,well  known  to  his  neighborhood,  and  knew  most  of  the  peo- 
ple who  had  cases  before  him,  and  sat  as  ah  arbitrator  of 
neighborhood  differences,  and  this  system  still  works  well  in 
the  country  at  the  present  time.  That  it  is  thoroughly 
unadapted  to  a  city  of  1,500,000  inhabitants  is  clearly  apparent. 

NEED  A  DIGNIFIED  MUNICIPAL  COURT. 

"A  law  that  would  abolish  the  entire  system  uniforimy 
throughout  the  state  could  never  pass  the  legislature.  Any 
legislation,  therefore,  which  could  meet  the  wants  of  the  city 
would  have  to  be  applicable  to  the  city  of  Chicago  alone,  and 
to  pass  a  measure  such  as  is  required,  wi.hout  coming  in  con- 
flict with  our  somewhat  outworn  state  constitution,  will  be 
exceedingly  difficult.  What  is  needed  is  a  municipal  court  of 


45 

equal  dignity  with  any  court  in  the  county,  filled  by  as 
capable  and  high-minded  men  as  any  that  can  be  obtained  as 
judges,  a  definite,  fixed  salary,  so  as  to  avoid  any  interest  on 
the  part  of  the  justice  in  the  result  of  any  suit  pending  before 
him.  As  to  whether  such  a  measure  can  be  enacted  without 
conflict  with  the  constitution,  will  be  for  the  legislature  to 
determine,  but  even  without  the  much-needed  reform  stated, 
even  without  a  constitutional  convention,  something  can  be 
done  to  remedy  the  evils  now  existing  in  our  police  courts. 

"The  salary  received  by  the  police  justice  from  the  city  should 
embrace  all  the  emolument  and  profit  to  which  he  should  be  en- 
titled from  his  office ;  all  of  the  fees  for  approving  bonds  or  other 
costs  should  go  to  the  city,  and  for  the  justice  to  receive  any 
emolument  or  fee  of  any  kind  aside  from  his  salary,  should  be 
a  misdemeanor,  for  which  he  should  be  immediately  removed. 
It  should  be  the  cause  for  removal  of  any  police  officer,  clerk 
of  the  police  court  or  any  other  employe  or  officer  of  any  police 
court  to  receive  any  emolument,  reward  or  compensation  for 
any  act  or  service  rendered  by  him.  No  arrests  should  be 
made  for  any  misdemeanor  of  the  nature  of  disorderly  conduct, 
breach  of  the  peace  or  other  offence  embraced  in  the  term 
'disorderly  conduct'  or  being  inmate  of  a  disorderly  house  in 
the  first  instances,  but  such  procedure  should  be  begun  by  a 
summons,  and,  if  failing  to  appear  when  so  summoned,  the 
offender  could  be  fined  and  execution  issued  against  the  body. 
This  would  deprive  the  straw  bailer  of  his  occupation,  the 
justice  of  the  temptation  to  go  in  league  with  the  bailers  and 
hangers-on  of  his  station  and  remove  from  his  court  a  cor- 
rupting influence. 

''Even  as  the  law  now  stands  a  vigorous,  earnest  and  honest 
administration  of  it  could  do  much  to  improve  the  existing 
condition.  If  the  police  court  prosecutors  employed  by  the 
city  of  Chicago  attended  to  their  duties  and  exercised  that  dis- 
cretion and  judgment  of  which  they  are  supposed  to  be  pos- 
sessed, they  could  do  much  to  prosecute  and  prevent  the 
discharge  and  escape  of  actual  offenders,  and  to  effect  the 


46 

release  of  the  innocent  and  unfortunate.  It  is  a  notorious 
fact,  and  one  established  by  reports  made  to  the  Citizen's 
Association  by  officers  employed  for  that  purpose,  that  for 
weeks  at  a  time  no  one  representing  the  city,  other  than  the 
policemen,  appeared  in  the  police  courts  to  take  charge  of  the 
city's  interests  in  these  cases,  and  the  policeman  acts  as  prose- 
cutor or  as  attorney  for  the  defendant,  as  his  interest  may  sug- 
gest." . 

"  No  more  important  duty  rests  upon  the  legislature  than  to 
afford  us  some  relief  and  remedy  in  the  direction  suggested.  It 
involves  no  partisanship  or  party  interest.  It  involves  the 
welfare  of  all  and  most  particularly  those  who  are  least  able  to 
help  themselves  and  the  most  liable  to  oppression  and  abuse. 
Would  we  have  the  law  respected  we  must  make  it  respecta- 
ble; and  to  justify  the  feeling  and  belief  on  the  part  of  those 
it  is  intended  to  restrain,  protect  or  punish,  that  it  is  an  instru- 
ment to  be  used  by  those  in  power  for  their  oppression  and 
abuse,  and  that  it  can  be  modified  or  rendered  impotent  in  its 
application  by  money,  influence  or  friendship,  is  to  breed  law- 
lessness, disorder  and  anarchy." 

Another  article  on  the  subject  gives  the  following: 

"Legislation  is  needed  that  will  effect  a  remedy.  The  specific 
measure  that  can  bring  about  the  reform  is  a  matter  for  the 
legislature  to  consider,  but  many  suggestions  have  been  made 
worthy  of  attention.  The  mere  statement  of  the  fact  that 
courts  organized  for  the  purpose  of  administering  justice,  pre- 
serving the  rights  of  liberty  and  property,  are  administered 
for  the  financial  benefit  of  the  officers  of  such  courts,  and  that 
the  so-called  justices  are  pecuniarily  interested  in  the  result  of 
their  decisions,  is  of  itself  sufficient  to  convince  any  one  that 
the  present  system  is  vicious  and  corrupting.  This  statement 
embodies  eimply  the  fact." 

"In  many  of  the  minor  courts  the  stern  chase  after  fees  has 
entirely  obscured  the  humble  needs  of  justice.  The  collection 
agency  which  throws  its  business  into  a  certain  channel  is 
likely  to  get  more  consideration  than  the  debtor  who  brings  no 


47 

fees  to  the  magistrate's  hopper.  The  industry  of  arresting 
inmates  of  disorderly  houses  for  fees,  of  dividing  the  loot  with 
professional  bailers  and  other  profitable  adventures  of  a  similar 
sort  are  well  recognized  by  many  justices  of  the  peace  as  a  part 
of  their  work.  It  is  disgraceful,  demoralizing,  a  prolific 
source  of  outrageous  wrong." 

Among  the  suggestions  made  for  relief  is  that  of  establishing 
a  City  Court  of  high  character  with,  perhaps,  seven  judges  of 
similar  standing  to  those  of  the  Circuit  and  Superior  Courts, 
whose  jurisdiction  shall  extend  to  all  municipal  cases;  its 
functions  might  be  so  extended  as  to  embrace  all  the  criminal 
cases  occurring  within  the  city. 


THE  CHIEF  OF  POLICE. 


The  chief  of  police  should  be  given  a  salary  sufficient  to 
secure  the  best  man  in  the  country,  whether  from  Chicago,  New 
York  or  any  other  city,  and  should  be  independent  of  the  city 
council,  so  as  to  take  the  police  force  beyond  the  reach  of  politics, 
or  aldermanic  control.  He  should  be  enabled  to  enforce  law  and 
order  without  respect  to  persons  and  parties,  and  be  as  independ- 
ent in  some  respects  as  the  perfect  of  police  in  Paris.  The  local 
military  companies  and  the  militia,  if  need  be,  within  the  city 
limits,  should  be  subject  to  his  call  to  enforce  law  and  order  if 
necessary;  he  should  have  a  mounted  force  of  100  picked  men, 
besides  a  sufficient  force  of  unmounted  men,  on  account  of  the 
large  area  of  the  city.  He  should  be  aided  by  the  detective 
force  and  given  sufficient  power  and  money  to  enable  him  to 
act  quickly  and  independently,  without  fear  of  check  or  hind- 
rance from  other  officials  in  the  city,  but  be  subject  to  removal 
by  the  mayor  who  appoints  him,  if  he  abuses  such  power. 
The  appropriation  for  police  purposes  should  be  adequate  and 
estimated  and  applied  for  by  the  chief  of  police  and  the  mayor 


4s 

to  the  common  council,  and  passed  upon  bj  that  body.  In 
some  states  the  chief  of  police  is  appointed  by  the  governor 
and  is  independent  of  city  elections. 

Police  Chief  McClaughry  says:  "  So  long  as  Aldermen 
have  the  right  to  name  policemen,  the  appointees  would  con- 
tinue to  recognize  the  power  behind  the  throne,  and  discipline 
would  be  almost  valueless.  The  patrolmen  should  be  made  to 
recognize  that  only  efficiency  would  insure  their  retention." 

If  the  mayor  and  council  are  properly  constituted  there  is 
no  use  delegating  to  the  governor  of  the  state  the  power  to 
appoint  the  chief  of  police  or  any  other  head  of  a  purely  local 
department.  The  mayor  and  every  member  of  the  council 
should  be  as  competent  an  officer  in  this  respect  as  the  gov- 
ernor. In  a  city  like  Chicago  the  police  force  should  be  as 
thoroughly  equipped  as  in  Paris  or  London.  It  should  be  a 
little  standing  army,  with  its  West  Point  for  preparing  men 
for  the  force,  who  should  be  thoroughly  drilled  and  equipped 
and  strong  enough  numerically  to  keep  the  lawless  elements 
in  Chicago  completely  under  control.  The  chief  and  his  sub- 
ordinates should  be  permanent  officers  during  good  behavior, 
like  those  in  the  army.  All  should  be  taken  care  of,  well  pro- 
vided for  when  sick  or  old,  by  pensions.  The  detective  system 
should  be  as  thorough  as  that  of  the  police  force.  The  local 
police  force  of  a  great  city  like  Chicago,  Paris,  or  London, 
should  be  as  formidable  to  the  enemies  of  good  government  as 
the  United  States  government  when  it  is  summoned  to  put 
down  rebellion  or  an  invading  armr. 

PDBLIO    SCHOOLS. 

The  members  of  the  school  board  of  Chicago  are  appointed 
by  the  Mayor  and  confirmed  by  the  Council.  Under  the 
revised  charter  this  need  not  be  changed.  However,  in  Bos- 
ton the  school  committee  is  distinct  from  the  rest  of  the  city 
government,  being  elected  on  a  general  ticket  over  the  whole 
city  and  serving  for  three  years,  eight  of  the  twenty-four 
retiring  annually. 


THE  CITY  AND  COUNTY  TREASURER. 

The  city  should  pay  a  salary  to  the  city  treasurer  equal  in 
size  to  the  importance  of  the  office,  but  provide  that  all  inter- 
est on  funds  collected  be  turned  over  to  the  city.  The  same 
provision  should  be  made  in*  reference  to  the  county  treasurer, 
and  this  should  be  fixed  by  a  special  statute. 

THE  COMMISSIONER  OF  PUBLIC    WORKS,  ETC. 

The  commissioner  of  public  works,  and  other  appointees  of 
the  mayor,  should  be  paid  adequate  salaries,  so  as  to  secure  the 
best  talent  in  the  city  for  heads  of  important  departments,  and 
hold  their  offices  during  more  than  one  administration,  if  com- 
petent, and  be  srtbject  to  a  prompt  removal  by  the  mayor  for 
misusing  their  offices.  The  commissioner  should  be  empower- 
ed to  enforce  the  elevation  or  lowering  of  all  railroad  tracks  at 
once. 

RAISE    OR    LOWER    THE    TRACKS. 

Minneapolis  can  teach  Chicago  a  lesson  on  now  a  city  gov- 
ernment should  manage  the  railroads  within  her  boundaries. 
In  the  Plarper's  of  March,  Julian  Ralf  states:  "It  was  five 
years  ago  that  the  city  council  of  Minneapolis  ordered  the 
city  engineer  to  prepare  plans  for  the  execution  of  the  work. 
This  done,  the  city  attorney  began  proceedings  in  court  to  de- 
termine why  the  railroads  should  not  lower  their  tracks.  The 
Great  Northern  and  Manitoba  railroads  at  once  complied  with 
the  city's  project  and  the  other  roads  were  soon  forced  to  do  so. 
The  arrangement  that  Minneapolis  made  was  a  simple  one, 
for  the  city.  It  decided  that  the  railroads  were  to  build  the 
entire  viaduct  approaches,  bridges,  masonry,  walls,  excavations 
and  all,  and  that  the  city  was  to  stand  between  the  railroads 
and  those  property -holders  who  might  claim  damages  for  in- 
juries growing  out  of  the  improvement.  The  city  comes  out 
of  the  affair  at  very  slight  cost,  while  the  railroads  have  been 

4 


50 

put  to  an  enormous  outlay.  The  railroad  must  keep  the 
bridges  and  approaches  in  perpetual  repair.  The  passenger 
tracks  are  sunk  ten  feet  at  the  lowest  point;  the  freight  track 
four  or  five  feet.  It  will  be  of  interest,"  he  says,  "to  those 
officers  of  other  cities  who  are  meditating  work  of  this  kind,  to 
know  that  the  railroads  which  can  use  the  new  viaduct  are 
greatly  pleased  with  the  reform,  and  would  not  go  back  to  the 
old  conditions." 

OTHER  IMPORTANT  MATTERS  TO  BE  CONSIDERED. 

The  mayor  should  not  be  confined  to  Chicago  for  the 
material  to  make  up  a  sufficient  and  effective  administrative 
force,  but  should  be  permitted  to  gather  the  best  material  in 
America  or  Europe  for  engineers,  etc.  Louis  Napoleon  ob- 
tained the  services  of  Baron  Haussmann  to  remodel  Paris. 

Every  corporation  doing  business  in  the  city  should  be  made 
to  understand  that  is  it  subordinate  to  the  greater  corporation 
known  as  the  City  of  Chicago,  and  that  it  is  subject  to  the  will 
of  the  mayor  and  councilmen  acting  within  their  legal  juris- 
diction. All  franchises  should  be  sold  at  public  auction,  as  is 
now  done  in  Brooklyn.  It  should  be  impossible  to  purchase 
legislation,  and  if  bribes  are  used  and  discovered,  it  should 
be  the  law  that  such  legislation  could  be  annuled  by  the 
courts. 

Read  Seth  Low's  article  in  the  Century  of  September,  1891, 
on  "  The  Government  of  Cities  in  the  United  States."  He 
states,  that  since  the  scandal  concerning  the  Broadway  railroad, 
it  is  now  the  law  that  all  the  charters  shall  be  sold  at  public 
auction.  Such  a  sale,  he  adds,  should  be  in  fact  a  lease  for  a 
term  of  years  not  exceeding  twenty.  The  new  rapid  transit 
bill  for  New  York,  happily  illustrates  this  point.  It  may  be 
too  late  to  remedy  the  evil  as  to  franchises  already  granted, 
but  it  is  not  too  late  to  change  the  policy  of  our  cities  for  the 
future.  If  Illinois,  like  New  York,  had  taken  this  precaution, 


51 

the  Chicago  Power  Supply  and  Smoke  Abating  ordinance,  and 
the  Economic  Gas  Company,  would  have  been  offered  at  public 
auction. 

The  possibilities  of  the  future  Chicago  can  hardly  be  im- 
agined, if  we  are  to  judge  from  the  past  record  of  this  wonder, 
ful  city  of  the  last  half  of  the  nineteenth  century,  but  the 
dangers  that  threaten  her  from  corrupt  legislation  and  other 
evils  are  no  less  gigantic,  and  may,  if  not  overpowered,  work 
out  her  ultimate  ruin  and  degredation. 

Let  us  take  warning  in  time  from  other  large  cities  where 
pauperism,  crime,  drunkenness,  and  disease,  have  done  their 
deadly  work,  while  dishonest  and  carelessly  chosen  officials 
have  misused  their  powers,  robbed  city  treasuries,  and  left 
huge  debts  for  future  generations  to  struggle  under. 

The  property  owners  of  Chicago  should  hold  public  meet- 
ings in  the  several  wards,  and  zealously  take  hold  of  this  great 
subject  of  municipal  reform  for  the  metropolis  of  the  west,  and 
inaugurate  measures  in  time  to  bring  about  through  the  next 
legislature  a  change  of  certain  provisions  in  the  city  charter, 
and  the  adoption  of  a  system  suited  to  a  great  city  like  Paris, 
Berlin,  London,  or  Chicago. 

Instead  of  getting  everything  and  giving  nothing,  gas,  street 
car,  and  other  companies  should  be  made  to  contribute  liber- 
ally to  the  city.  Street  car,  gas,  and  other  companies  should 
not  be  permitted  to  injure  the  streets  simply  to  carry  out  their 
high-handed  schemes  for  stock  jobbing  purposes  on  the  New 
York  Exchange,  or  to  force  some  other  company  to  buy  their 
franchise,  procured  often  by  corrupt  means,  and  without  com- 
pensation to  the  city. 

An  admirable  way  to  raise  money  to  keep  the  streets  clean, 
would  be  to  levy  a  special  tax  on  each  lot  fronting  the  streets 
which  are  thickly  populated,  for  the  purpose  of  raising  money 
to  keep  such  streets  and  the  alleys  clean,  and  if  such  money  be 
not  promptly  used  for  that  purpose,  and  the  health  of  citizens 
jeopardized,  the  owners  or  tenants  should  be  permitted  to 
clean  the  streets  and  alleys  opposite  their  lots  and  collect  the 


'0-2 

money  from  the  city.     If  sufficient  water  could  be  obtained, 
the  streets  and  sidewalks  should  be  flushed  every  night. 

Albert  Shaw  states,  that  in  Glasgow,  "the  streets  (181  miles) 
are  swept  nightly,  most  of  the  work  being  done  by  twenty- 
three  horse  machines,  which  are  followed  by  the  department's 
removal  carts.  A  good  feature  of  this  work  are  the  iron  boxes 
or  bins  with  hinged  lids,  sunk  in  the  sidewalks  next  the  curb- 
ing along  the  principal  streets,  at  intervals  of  forty  yards. 
Men  and  boys  are  kept  busy  brushing  up  the  day  litter  and 
depositing  it  in  the  boxes,  the  contents  of  which  are  removed 
by  night  with  the  sweepings."  The  city  is  divided  into  five 
main  districts  for  sanitary  purposes  and  a  sub-inspector 
appointed  for  each,  having  subject  to  him  ordinary  inspectors 
and  lady  visitors.  There  is  a  central  office  with  necessary 
clerks. 

The  city  should  be  given  power  to  raise  the  money  to  build 
and  operate  gas  and  electric  light  plants,  elevated  roads,  street 
car  lines,  telephone  lines,  stock  yards,  etc,  for  its  own  use  and 
profit,  and  take  advantage  of  the  right  as  soon  as  possible.  A 
step  in  this  direction  might  have  been  taken  long  since  had 
we  possessed  pure  and  competent  councils. 

The  city  should  have  the  right  to  levy  and  collect  a  small 
tax,  say  one-half  mill,  on  all  produce  brought  into  the  city, 
the  same  as  is  done  in  Paris  by  the  octroi  officers,  or  Green 
men,  including  all  stock  killed  at  stock  yards,  and  all  fruit, 
etc.,  sold  on  South  Water  street,  etc.,  to  obtain  money  to  aid 
in  charitable  work,  public  instruction  and  cleaning,  lighting 
and  running  the  city;  and  maintaining  in  time  the  finest  opera 
house  and  school  of  vocal,  instrumental,  and  dramatic  culture 
in  the  world,  as  well  as  maintaining  the  finest  art  school  in  the 
country.  Many  million  francs  are  collected  and  disbursed  in 
this  way  in  Paris.  The  money  lost  through  the  common  coun- 
cil by  giving  away  valuable  franchises  like  that  recently, 
granted  to  the  Compressed  Air  corporation,  and  to  street  car 
and  gas  companies  from  time  to  time,  would  have  established 
a  fund  sufficient  to  pay  for  all  this.  Instead  of  all  the  profits 


53 

accruing  from  the  management  and  support  of  the  city  of 
Chicago  going  to  private  capitalists,  stock  companies,  alder- 
men, or  city  and  county  treasurers,  the  revised  charter  should 
aim  to  dirert  a  large  portion  of  these  profits  into  the  city 
treasury. 

HOW    SHOULD    A    CITY    CARE   FOK    ITS    POOR? 

"The  Elberfeld  system  is  now  practically  working  in  at  least 
thirty-six  German  towns,  including  most  of  the  principal  cities 
of  the  country,  (Elberfeld,  Barmen,  Bremen,  Konigsberg* 
Dresden,  Leipzig,  Frankfurt,  Berlin,  Stuttgart,  Hamburg),  and 
varying  in  population  from  Berlin  with  1 ,579,244  inhabitants 
in  1890  to  Ruhrort  with  11,099.  Ten  of  these  towns  had  in 
1885  more  than  one  hundred  thousand  inhabitants;  four  had 
between  one  hundred  thousand  and  fifty  thousand;  thirteen 
between  fifty  thousand  and  twenty  thousand ;  and  seven  less 
than  twenty  thousand.  Thus  the  system,  if  not  equally 
applicable  in  theory  to  large  and  small  places,  is  at  least  prac- 
tically accepted  in  Germany  as  the  only  way  in  which  any 
town,  large  or  small,  can  hope  to  deal  thoroughly  with  its 
question  of  poor-relief." 

From  an  article  by  Francis  G.  Peabody,  in  the  December 
Forum:  "  The  Elberfeld  system,  which  is  by  space,  though 
much  harder  to  administer  in  America,  is,  however,  the  only 
thorough  system.  Cases  may  be  ever  so  freely  assigned,  and 
yet  other  cases,  just  as  needy,  may  be  left  uncared  for  in  the 
same  street.  The  only  positive  and  aggressive  way  to  patrol  a 
whole  city  is  to  make  a  certain  sentinel  responsible  for  all  that 
lies  within  a  certain  beat,  and  to  make  the  beat  so  small  that 
he  can  easily  cover  the  whole  of  it.  This  second  point  of  dif- 
ference is  as  much  to  the  advantage  of  Germany  as  the  first  is 
to  her  disadvantage.  These  scattered  visitors,  each  supervis 
ing  his  little  square,  are,  first  of  all,  united  in  small  '  ward- 
conferences  '  (Pfleqevereinen).  Of  these  there  are  forty-three 
in  Dresden,  numbering  from  six  to  fourteen  members  each 
and  meeting  once  a  fortnight.  The  chairman  of  each  confer 


54 

ence  is  the  intermediary  between  it  and  the  central  committee, 
and  the  forty-three  conference  representatives  are  from  time 
to  time  called  to  confer  with  the  central  board  on  the  more 
general  questions  involved  in  their  work.  The  chairman  of 
each  ward  conference,  moreover,  has  affixed  to  his  house  or 
shop  a  conspicuous  placard  bearing  his  title,  and  each  case 
needing  relief  within  the  district  applies  first  to  him.  By  him 
the  case  is  referred  to  the  appropriate  visitor,  who  may  relieve 
immediate  necessity  by  food  or  fuel  pending  the  action  of  his 
conference  and  of  the  central  board." 

"  Another  special  feature  of  poor-relief  in  the  town  with 
which  I  am  dealing  is  the  relation  of  public  charity  thus 
administered  to  private  and  voluntary  help.  One  might  well 
ask  what  would  become  of  private  initiative  under  so  compre- 
hensive a  plan.  Would  it  not  tend  to  check  personal  benev- 
olence and  to  ruin  the  work  of  private  societies?  Would  not 
citizens  come  to  think  of  all  help  as  state  help  and  run  all 
risks  of  a  passive  socialism?  This  might  be  the  case  if  the 
limits  of  the  two  ways  of  charity  were  not  carefully  defined, 
but  with  this  clear  definition  a  good  city  system  ought  to 
strengthen  private  charity  by  giving  it  a  place  of  its  own  to 
fill  and  a  special  work  to  do.  This  is  just  what  has  happened 
in  Germany.  Relief  by  the  town  carries  with  it  the  loss  of 
the  right  of  suffrage  and  is  therefore  unwelcome  to  all  except 
the  chronic  poor.  Cases  of  temporary  poverty  fall  to  the  vol- 
untary societies,  and  a  relation  is  established  between  them 
and  the  city  visitors  by  means  of  a  thoroughly-maintained 
charity  clearing-house.  At  the  city  bureau,  where  complete 
records  of  all  cases  are  kept,  there  was  arranged  in  1883  a 
"central  station"  through  which  pass  the  statements  of  relief 
by  all  agencies  in  all  cases.  Thus  in  1890  there  were  seventy - 
five  private  charities  using  this  clearing-house  for  their  trans- 
actions. The  city  spent  in  that  year  one  hundred  and  sixty 
thousand  dollars  in  its  administration  of  charity,  and  the  pri- 
vate societies,  so  far  as  reported,  spent  a  much  larger  sum — 
two  hundred  and  thirty-one  thousand  dollars." 


00 

PAUPERISM  AND  BEGGARY  MUST  BE  CURED. 

Count  Rumford,  an  officer  in  the  revolutionary  war  in 
America,  later  in  life  went  to  Bavaria,  and  through  his  instru- 
mentality beggary  was  effectually  stopped  in  the  country  once 
infested  with  beggars.  He  accomplished  this  feat  by 
promptly  arresting  all  beggars  and  putting  them  to  work  in 
shops  and  on  a  farm  conducted  by  the  government.  Here 
they  were  fed  and  eventually  taught  trades,  and  young  and  old 
elevated  from  miserable  starving  wretches  to  industrious  self- 
sustaining  citizens.  (See  history  of  Count  Rumford  in  appen- 
dix to  "In  Darkest  England."  by  Booth.) 

THE  STATE  LAWS  AND  CONSTITUTION  TO  BE  CHANGED. 

In  granting  these  new  increased  powers,  suitable  to  the 
future  metropolis  of  the  world,  the  state  laws  and  even  con- 
stitution of  the  state  must  be  changed,  to  meet  the  require- 
ments of  cities  of  over  one  million  inhabitants  in  the  state. 
To  accomplish  this,  right  men  should  be  sent  to  the  legislature 
from  this  city  and  other  parts  of  the  state  until  the  needed 
reform  is  accomplished. 

The  right  of  suffrage  in  voting  for  mayor  and  city  council- 
men  in  cities  of  over  one  million  inhabitants,  might  be 
restricted  in  some  way,  by  change  in  constitution,  to  those  own- 
ing property,  and  householders  who  rent  even  a  small  room  or 
tenement,  (as  in  London  and  in  Canada),  and  those  who  re- 
ceive a  regular  salary,  etc.,  or  who  have  a  visible  means  of 
support.  No  man,  however  poor,  if  not  a  vagrant,  should  be 
deprived  of  his  vote,  but  all  gamblers  convicted  of  keeping 
gambling  houses,  and  all  employes  in  same,  should  be  debar- 
red after  conviction,  as  well  as  all  tramps,  criminals,  occu- 
pants of  poor  houses  and  jails,  from  voting  at  city  elections. 

A  perusal  of  the  city  charter  and  amendments  thereto  will 
show  some  of  the  causes  which  have  produced  bad  results,  fol- 
lowing their  practical  application  in  Chicago.  One  of  the 
principal  defects  is  the  method  of  electing  and  paying  "coun- 


56 

cilors."  Like  evil  results  have  followed  the  same  provisions 
in  New  York  and  Philadelphia.  There  are  many  faults  in  the 
present  system  which  could  be  remedied.  We  might  learn 
many  useful  lessons  from  older  cities,  like  Glasgow,  Paris, 
London,  and  Berlin,  and  take  warning  from  the  experience, 
of  New  York,  Boston  and  Philadelphia. 

It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  city  government  in  many  of  our 
large  cities  has  been  in  many  respects  a  failure.  They  have 
been  plundered  for  years  for  the  benefit  of  political  parties, 
corporations  of  all  kinds,  and  officeholders,  as  well  as  private 
schemers.  The  power  given  to  ward  bosses,  expected  to 
serve  the  city  without  sufficient  legitimate  pay,  and  depending 
in  many  cases  on  the  sale  of  their  votes  for  extra  compen- 
sation, has  been  abused  until  nothing  better  is  now  expected 
of  them.  The  present  system  has  produced  such  bad  results 
that  the  people  cannot  be  blamed  for  wanting  a  change,  which 
will  bring  to  the  front  business  men,  who  can  be  elected  and 
properly  paid  for  looking  after  the  business  interests  of  our 
great  city,  which  under  present  methods  pays  out  millions 
where  any  well  regulated  business  enterprise  on  a  large  scale 
would  only  spend  thousands. 

The  lack  of  business  methods  and  good  management  in 
a  great  American  city  would  ruin  any  railroad  or  manu- 
facturing establishment  in  a  year.  The  money  and  property 
of  cities  is  looked  upon  as  legitimate  plunder  by  ward 
bosses,  and  the  worst  elements  within  the  corporate  limits, 
as  well  as  rich  corporations  with  plenty  of  money  to  buy 
legislation. 

In  the  report  of  the  Citizens'  Association  of  Chicago,  Octo- 
ber, 1891,  attention 'is  called  to  the  necessity  of  reform,  as 
follows:  "We  need  a  radical  and  comprehensive  reform;  a 
change  of  the  whole  system  of  municipal  government.  That 
was  the  object  this  association  had  in  view  in  its  endeavors  to 
obtain  a  constitutional  convention.- 

It  is  to  be  hoped  these  efforts  will  be  followed  up  at  the 
present  legislature  and  be  endorsed  by  all  good  citizens. 


This  organization  has  done  much  and  is  liable  to  do  more 
for  the  benefit  of  Chicago.  Boston  appointed  a  commission 
in  1884  to  reform  the  city  government.  A  memorial  was  pre- 
sented to  the  Pennsylvania  legislature  in  1883  by  a  number 
of  the  leading  citizens  of  the  Quaker  city,  "asking  for  a  better 
form  of  city  government."  Commissioners  were  appointed  by 
New  York  in  1876,  "to  devise  a  plan  for  the  government  of 
cities  in  the  state  of  New  York,"  of  which  W.  M.  Evarts  was 
chairman.  Those  interested  in  the  subject  can  find  all  the 
reports  and  a  full  account  of  the  work  of  these  commissioners 
in  the  first  volume  of  Bryce's  Commonwealth,  under  the  head 
of  "The  Government  of  Cities." 

The  time  has  come  in  the  history  of  the  city  of  Chicago 
when  a  commission  should  be  appointed,  composed  of  some  of 
the  best,  wisest,  and  most  reliable  citizens,  who  should  present 
the  great  question  of  our  city  government  to  the  legislature, 
and  ask  that  a  new,  well-devised  and  appropriate  charter,  suit- 
able to  its  present  and  future  demands,  prepared  by  them,  be 
granted  to  the  great  northwestern  metropolis  of  the  United 
States.  The  governor  might  well  refer  to  this  subject  as  one 
needing  prompt  consideration.  * 

WORLD'S  COLUMBIAN  EXPOSITION. 

Before  the  risitors  from  the  great  cities  of  the  old  world  come 
to  Chicago  to  participate  in  the  celebration  of  the  Columbian 
Exposition,  this  city,  with  so  many  attractions  to  commend 
it,  should  remodel  its  present  system  of  government,  and 
place  itself  upon  a  higher  plane  equaling  the  importance  of 
the  great  metropolis. 

Our  visitors  from  the  cleanest  city  of  the  world,  the  beauti- 
ful Paris  of  the  nineteenth  century,  should  find  our  streets 
thoroughly  cleansed,  lighted  and  paved,  our  police  force  dis- 
ciplined, and  the  railroads,  street  cars  and  other  corporations 
respecting  and  obeying  the  city  ordinances.  The  mayor  whom 
Chicago  is  to  elect  soon  should  arrest,  with  the  aid  of  a  newly 
organized  police  force,  and  punish  all  gamblers  and  criminals 


58 

permitting  no  guilty  one  to   escape   for   personal  or  political 
reasons. 

THE   PROHIBITION   DISTRICTS   SHOULD    REMAIN    IN    TACT. 

Those  residence  districts  annexed  to  Chicago  where  saloons 
are  now  prohibited,  must  be  watched  or  else  they  may  be 
changed  to  non-prohibition  districts  at  some  future  election. 

The  cable  death-traps  to  surprise  uninitiated  visitors  at 
Madison  and  State  streets,  Michigan  avenue  and  Randolph 
street,  Randolph  and  Wabash  avenue,  Randolph  and  LaSalle 
and  many  other  cable  and  railroad  crossings  should  be  con- 
tinually guarded  by  flag-men  employed  by  the  companies,  or 
tracks  lowered  or  elevated,  otherwise  there  will  be  numerous 
lives  uselessly  sacrificed. 

Rest  assured  our  city  methods  of  government  as  well  as 
everything  else  connected  with  Chicago  will  be  investi- 
gated by  these  foreign  visitors,  and  written  up  in  French, 
German,  Italian,  Russian,  etc.,  as  well  as  English. 


First  edition  only  1,000.  If  more  we  wanted,  orders  for 
500  or  1,000  will  Refilled  at  cost  by  the  publishers,  Hazlitt 
<&  Co.,  97  Plymouth  Place. 


